Hannah Mon-Wannabe

It's already begun. And she's just three. Heaven help us.

Grandparents' Visit

Papa and Jean came to visit for a few days. They spoil Kate rotten! They took her to the Disney store and bought her a Cinderella dress and Cinderella jammies. Kate really thinks she is Cinderella!

While they were at the mall, they visited Santa. They got a few cute pics of her sitting in his lap. They also rode the huge carousel that is there.

The first pic is of Kate ready for her school's Christmas program. She did a great job with her song!

I don't know how to embed this photoshow, but click this link to see it.

Amazon Customer Service Number

Because it's impossible to find (it's not on their website) I am including Amazon's customer service number here.

1-800-201-7575

If you order from there, you will need this number at some point.

Still Here

I am a bad blogger. A very bad blogger. By looking here, you would think absolutely nothing of importance has occurred in nearly three weeks. You'd be wrong... I just haven't written about it. I'll try to catch up.

K had her first dentist appointment. She did pretty well. She was all excited about it, but once we got in there, I had to hold her on my lap. The dentist was very sweet and patient with her, and thought her teeth looked excellent. She still has a big goofy gap, which probably means braces down the road, but it's a good thing right now because I don't have to floss. If her teeth don't touch, there's no where for food to get stuck.

We elected a new president. I guess this isn't really news, but it is exciting. I voted Democratic for the first time, and I haven't gone up in flames yet. I'm eager to see what the next four years hold for us.

We held a bachelorette weekend for my sister in Austin. She flew down from New York, and we stayed with her old college roommate. Two other friends joined us, so the five of us had a great time. We went out on Sixth Street, and the next day had mani/pedis and grabbed lunch. We did a lingerie shower for her at the house, and then spent the next 7 hours or so drinking sangrias and playing spades. It was great to see Meg, and I'm so glad she was able to have a Texas party, since a lot of us probably won't be able to make the New York one.

It's now the weekend before Thanksgiving. I am off the entire next week, which is a wonderful idea, but I know it will go far too fast. K and I are driving down to Houston in the morning. G is already down there, judging an all-region contest. I am staying with a college friend, who has two daughters for K to play with. G will join us Sunday, and we'll drive home together (he rode down there with friends). Then we have a day or two to prepare the house, and four family members descend upon us. I am sure we'll have a good Thanksgiving, and I plan to stay as far away from the malls a possible! I do plan to do a bit of shopping online though.

So, that's that. Thanks for staying tuned.

Happy Halloween!

Here's K dressed as a butterfly. She had a headband will little antennae on it, but she left it at school. She has such a wonderful time trick-or-treating! We went for about an hour. I knew when she started sitting down on the sidewalk that she had had enough! She did make a good haul, and that combined with all the candy she got a pre-school, makes for a sugar stash that will last well into 2009.

National Day of Remembrance

I don't have anything to add, but I thought this was a really beautiful post.

National Day of Remembrance for Pregnancy and Infant Loss

K's Pledge

I cannot believe how much she's learning in pre-school already this year!

Odds and Ends

At the dinner table, K was howling like a wolf. Daddy told her not to act like a wolf.

Silence.

Then, "Tweet! Tweet!"

We never said she couldn't act like a bird.

**********************************************

K was sitting on the potty toilet, and it got quiet. Then we heard the sounds of her flipping through a magazine. Some apples don't fall far from the tree!

**********************************************

K: Mommy, what are you doing?

Me: Laying down with Daddy. (Clothed, in case you were wondering.)

K: Awwww!

Hot Time at the Arboretum

K and I visited the arboretum today. It was all decked out in its autumnal finest, but it was hard to get into the spirit when it was 88 degrees outside. It was fun anyway. As you can see, we didn't take too many pictures with the pumpkin sweater on!

Extreme Mustang Makeover

Last night my mom and I went to the Extreme Mustang Makeover. The premise was, they took 200 mustangs fresh off the BLM land in Nevada, and randomly gave them to trainers (I guess they applied to do this) and the trainers had 100 days to get them ready for this event. There were 100 yearlings that did halter events (this was Friday night -- we didn't see this) and last night were the older ones with unbelievable under-saddle events. We saw the top 10 perform. They had been narrowed down through previous events. A lot of it was kind of gimmicky- but they did stuff off the back of a fresh wild mustang that I would never dream of doing off of a horse that had been broke for 20 years. The shot guns off them and popped balloons, they jumped rings of fire (I am not kidding!), they rode bridle-less, they go them to lay down. One guy had a platform being pulled behind a pickup, and he got the horse's front legs to go up on it, so he was walking along with his back legs. Then he just urged him up onto the moving platform, and then onto the bed of the pickup! I guess that shows the horse will load into any trailer! It was really amazing. The horses were all being sold at auction this morning. The yearlings were going for a starting bid of $125. I'm sure the older ones will bring in thousands. A lot of the trainers were going to buy their own horses back. It would be so hard to spend that much time and effort on them and then just let them go.

It was absolutely amazing!

www.extrememustangmakeover.com

What?!?!

I'm all for being green and helping out the environment, but I just could not bring myself to do this. No. Just, no. Sorry. I love my tp too much.

Happy Day!

Hey, I won! Cool.

Halloween Giveaway

I never win anything, but I thought I'd give this a shot. I want this Halloween book



and getting it free is even better. You can purchase this magazine in stores across US and Canada. Here is the author



in all his fabulous-ness.

Looks cool. Give it a try, if you have a blog.

Church Sign

Does this strike anyone else as odd?



I spotted this on my way home today. I even Googled "crunkk," and couldn't get a legitimate answer. It's not even in the Urban Dictionary yet. That's how crunkk this church is. Allegedly, "crunk" is a combination of crazy and drunk. Nice.

China Doll

My sister spent a week in China and a week in Japan recently. While she was there, she had this dress made for K. It arrived today, and it is absolutely adorable! It fits her like a glove. I'm trying to think of an occasion where she can wear it. Besides Halloween, any ideas?

In Honor of Labor Day (a couple of days late)

I stole this from ladybug.

How long was your labor?
16 hours (6 am - 9:44 pm)

How did you know you were in labor?
I never started on my own. I never had a single contraction. She had not dropped into position. I was starting my 42nd week, so I was induced.

Where did you deliver?
Medical City of Plano

Drugs?
Absolutely. After 16 hours and a 9 and a 1/2 pound baby, you betcha! I also had an episiotomy (TMI).

C-section?
Thankfully, no. There was a brief time there when I wasn't progressing, and we thought I might have to have one.

Who delivered?
Dr. Fong. Or as G calls him (not to his face of course), "The Fonger."

First Day of School

K is going to school at the local Catholic church. She went twice a week last year, but she's going every day this year. She'll have a Masters degree in pre-school!

First Ballet Class

Tonight was K's first ballet class. It's Beginning Ballet for 2- and 3-year olds. They are smart, and don't let the moms stay in the class. There is a closed-circuit TV, so I could watch from the lobby. They did very age-appropriate things tonight, like stretches, standing up tall and reaching up, squatting down, motion songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider," etc. K absolutely loved it! She came home and reprised what she had learned.

Playing Catch-up

I am a bad blog mom. Some people write about every playdate, poop, and cute saying. I on the other hand, have had all summer to get these two events posted, and I still haven't done it. I realized if I don't do it now, it's not going to get done, since school starts Monday. So, excuse my tardiness, but here goes...

K turned three in June. We had an art party, and it was awesome. It was held at a local park, so the kids had shade under the pavilion to do a craft or two, and then they could run and play on the playground when they got bored with that. We had three 4-year-olds in attendance: Cole, Cassidy, and Kennedi.

On the playground













Chalk paint

















Mini-Picassos at work














Cuties!



























Four kids excited for cake!

(Her shirt is not vulgar or anything. I just choose not to broadcast her name all over the net.)












A cute one with her daddy

The second missing post is from our trip to Lubbock and Durango, but I'm tired of posting pics, so I'll have to do that later.

Cake Wrecks

I have a new love. To go along with all the time-wasting sites out there, here is Cake Wrecks. These are all "professional" cakes that look like something my 3-year-old could have designed. Some are just scary. Some suffer random capitalization and quotation marks. And some are just beyond explanation.

From the Piddly Diddly Department

I am proud to say, I am the parent of a potty-trained child! It was a long and arduous process, and one thing (#2) took much longer than the other (#1), but we are there! I'm sure we'll have an accident here or there, but for now I am relieved of the diaper bag and all it entails. We still wear a Pull-up at night, but that's OK for now.

Yay! She can go back to pre-school next month!

Shopping

We had been in several high-end stores (read: breakable stuff and I didn't want to buy), and at each one I told K to put her hands behind her back, so she wouldn't touch anything. For the most part, she complied.

We came upon a store I knew she would be very excited about.

I said, "We're about to go into a toy store."

Her reply: "I'm going to touch everything!"

Wedding Bells

When my sister gets married in April, she has asked G to officiate their wedding! I think that is so sweet! They will actually do a private ceremony at city hall, due to green card technicalities and all that, so G doesn't have to be ordained or anything, since it won't be the actually legal wedding. Megan just said Ben (fiance) really likes him and thinks he's so much fun and energetic, and would really like him to perform the ceremony. I think it's great! Now I can say "My husband married my sister!"

Fall Fashion Preview

Here is K modeling a few of her outfits for school.

Hair Today, Gone More Tomorrow (hopefully!)

Ever since K was scalped, I have found myself lusting after hairdos. Specifically, hairdos for little girls with long, thick hair. I have found several blogs to fulfill this void in my life, and just thought I would share.

Girly Dos
Babes in Hairland
She Does Hair
Piper's Hairdos
Little Girl's Hair
The Story of a Princess and Her Hair
Princess Charmed Hair
Rockin' Shorty Hairstyles


Someday....

Things I Don't Want to Forget from our Trip

It is really nice up there. It was in the 90s, so it's definitely warm, and the air kept me huffing and puffing, but it's so gorgeous. The nights cooled down, and we slept with the windows open (no AC in the dorms). To see where we were, just go to http://explore.fortlewis.edu/ . It's a tiny campus, but beautiful. Saturday we went here (http://www.durangomountainresort.com/index.cfm/fa/category.display/category_id/158/Village.cfm) and did the alpine slide, and K did the bungee trampoline! Sunday, we rafted (http://www.durangorafting.com/) and had a blast! K was such a trooper! The girl is fearless, so she loved every minute of it.

I did admin stuff for the camp, so I'd write up the concert programs, make copies, etc. It was pretty easy, and it was nice to have something to do while Gary was working. We went to a lot of concerts, and the kids were really talented. http://www.newconservatory.org/photos.asp G's parents were here, and watched K while we were working. They all went to http://www.mesaverde.org/ so K was worn out!

Pics to come....

Va-Cay!

I'm just checking in from an undisclosed location to say hello. I've seen amber waves of grain, purple mountains' majesty, and more Subarus than I think are in the whole state of Texas. I've seen cars held together with bumper stickers, and more running and biking shops per capita than anywhere except possibly Austin. It's been great, and you can't beat the weather. It gets cloudy every afternoon, and cools off just in time to walk around before (and after) dinner. It gets warm midday, but we are working indoors then, so it's OK.

Ah, Heaven!

It was 74 degrees where I am this morning. 74! And I'm not even out of Texas yet! I don't think it's been 74 back home since mid-April. I got up and ran for about 20 minutes. I couldn't tell you the last time I did that, and it actually felt good. It's amazing what a nice breeze and a good beat on your iPod can do for you!

3rd Year Portraits

Happy Birthday to Kate!

I can't believe it's already been three years. And yet in some ways, it feels like I've known you forever.

In the beginning

Year One

Year Two (We finally have hair!)

Year Three (sans hair once again)

We love you, Kate!!

It's a Potty Party!

My black lab has had some, uh, bowel incontinence issues lately. It's off and on, so it's very hard to predict. We went to the vet this morning, and they really want a stool sample so they can rule out a few things. Since we have two dogs, I can't just pick up a pile in the backyard. I have to physically watch him do it. That means I am following him around every time I let him outside.

My daughter will be three next week. She still wears diapers, so starting today, it is The Summer of Potty-Training. She has panties on right now, so we're sitting on the potty every 30 minutes. I'm also asking her every five minutes, "Are your panties dry? How are your panties? Do you need to potty?"

I am very eager to stop following things around and watching them go to the bathroom.

Getting Used to It

After nearly 2 weeks, I've grown accustomed to her new 'do. Here is what her hair looks like these days:



She still loves it. We've gotten lots of compliments on the cut, but I feel compelled to tell the story to everyone who hadn't already heard. People might just think I'm some hip, cool mama who's into a little sassy hairdo, and I definitely can't have them thinking that!

My Pixie






Here she is after a trip to a kids' salon. They did a nice job blending everything in. It's just very short. It'll take me some getting used to.

Scalped!

My babysitter's 5-year-old son decided to give K a haircut. He didn't just give her a trim -- he scalped her! This is before we had in cleaned up a little at a kids' haircut place. It looks a little better, but it's still v-e-r-y short.





I know it's just hair, but she had gorgeous hair. It will grow back, I know, but it'll take a lot of getting used to in the meantime! Thank goodness I saved all her little baby bows that stick to virtually no hair!