By the way...

I decided not to keep posting to my daily photo blog. I do in fact take photos daily. But, I was not really working on my photography skills. That was the point of the blog to me. I am just too busy and in reality all my photos are of my kids. This blog just ended up having the same photos as my other blog so I am letting it go. I hate not finishing something I started but I have to be realistic.

Dat 53

Today was Katherine's birthday. She is proud to show that she is now "3". After church we went to the science museum for a picnic and to have fun.

Day 51

Birthday Celebration #2 was a family birthday party. Both sets of grandparents, aunt and uncle, and 4 cousins were all there. It was a fun party.
Obviously I did not take the second picture but it is rare that I am in pictures with Katherine. I thought this was a pretty good one and it shows off a little the birthday outfit I made her.

Day 51

Today was birthday celebration #1. Katherine had her friend party with a full house of friends, moms and siblings. It was a princess party complete with a princess castle cake.

Day 50

Caroline turns 7 months today. She sure is growing up fast. I love this girl so much and she is such a happy baby.

Day 49

Katherine had a lot of fun making her birthday cake. She loves to add things to the bowl. Of course her favorite thing is testing out to make sure it taste good. Notice she is dressed as a princess to make her princess cake.

Day 48

Katherine had her 3 year well visit. She did great. She currently weighs 26 lb 8 oz which is in the under 3% and she is 35.5 inches which is 20%.

Day 47

When your 2 children are both girls, you have a lot of pink in the house. I had so much laundry to do that I actually sorted their laundry into a dark load, light load and a pink load.

Day 46

Caroline is learning to pull up on things. So far it is only pulling up onto her knees. Once she kept repeating this accomplishment she was taken out of the pack and play and put on the floor so she would not fall onto the concrete below. It is an exciting milestone but one that I am not quite ready for. I like having an immobile baby for now.

Day 45

I went to a friends lake house Saturday and Sunday with some girlfriends to scrapbook. It was a wonderful trip and much more productive than I expected considering I took Caroline with me. She and I got to stay in the "Wolf Room". You can see why it is called that. This wolf rug is peeking out from under the bed. Caroline petted it's head just like she does with Hooligan.

Day 44

By the way, I know I am posting 4 days at once. I promise I am taking these pictures every day. I am just not getting them posted on that day. I promise I am not cheating.
Look at the beautiful tulips Sam brought me for Valentines Day. Tulips are my favorite flower and I told Sam he does not need to get roses. This year I love that he got them planted in a pot. We are always disappointed at how quickly cut tulips wilt and need to be trashed. I loves these.

Day 43

Today Caroline tried her first finger food - PUFFS. She is working on that pincher grasp and doing pretty well. Getting the sticky puff off her finger and into her mouth is another story. I think the dog ate more than Caroline.

Day 42

Here is our often forgotten family member, Hooligan the Catahoula. She is a great dog and great with the kids.

Day 41

I bought Katherine this cute headband this week. I LOVE it. It actually holds all if her hair back, has a cute huge bow, and she can put it in by herself. I need to buy more.

Day 40

Katherine was not being cooperative in smiling so I asked her how old she is about to be thinking that "three" would work like "cheese" in making you look like you are smiling. Well, she answered with her fingers instead of saying "three". Cute.

Day 39

Caroline is a good, though messy eater. This is the result of avacado.

Day 38

I have been working on sewing felt crowns as party favors for Katherine's princess party in a few weeks. I have finished the girl crowns. Katherine's has "K" on it but I decided not to try to personalize all the ones for her friends since I may not know until the last minute who is coming. Now I just have to finish the boy crowns.

Day 37

Caroline really enjoys the unseasonably warm February weather. We met friends at the park and had a wonderful day.

Day 36

Caroline does not wear a bow every day but I love it when she does. I think the huge bows are so cute. She especially needed one today because she was wearing a gender neutral outfit and everyone needed to know without a doubt that she is a girl

Day 35

Katherine is obsessed with all things princess so we were delighted when a friend mailed us an outgrown Cinderella costume. She loved it. I think she is adorable.

Day 34

We love it when Ben comes to hang at our house. Today his mom brought him straight out of bed. All 3 kids enjoyed playing in Katherine's "castle" while I got breakfast ready. I love that Caroline is sitting and able to join in the fun.

Day 33

Here is my big project for the week. I am making felt crowns to be the party favors for Katherine's princess party which will be in just under 3 weeks. The pieces are all cut and the girl shapes are all sewn onto the crown. I still need to make the strap and sew it on and sew all of the boy crowns. It is easy but takes time. The goal is not to be up all night the night before the party.

Day 32

Girly girls wear velvet dresses, tights and black patten shoes when they ride their tricycle. Why not? At least she did not resist wearing the Dora bicycle helmet since it clashed.

Day 31

Laurie Jane and her daddy playing at the park. She is an adventurous girl and there were lots of big kids. This was the only way for Wade to keep up with her.

Day 30

The high chair is one of the best places for the girls to interact. Caroline is at Katherine's level. Katherine loves to make silly noises and nonsense words and she can get Caroline laughing and smiling so fast.

Day 29

Here is Caroline at her 6 month well visit that ended up being a sick visit too. It seems that she has a small ear infection. I like the photo with the reflection, especially since it shows her hair messed up in the back (if you look closely).

Day 28

Today Katherine and I played with a number puzzle. I bought it at a consignment sale in September but kind of forgot about it. She enjoyed it.

Day 27

Caroline does not get a lot of play time in her crib. She sleeps there at night and some naps. I put her in there sitting while helping Katherine in her bathroom. She loved the mobile over her crib. It does not match at all. As you will notice the colors are avocado green, mustard yellow and orange, the prime colors of the 70's. But, it was my mobile in the 70's so I love it for nostalgia's sake.

Day 26

Today's photos are courtesy of a guest photographer - Katherine. She loves to get our camera and take photos. It is so big that she usually gets the ground. She has a hard time looking through the view finder to see what she is shooting. She is getting better though and this first shot is actually pretty good. Lest you think she is a prodigy though, here are some of her other photos. There were actually about 15 of a headless Caroline.

Day 25

How are you doing on your resolutions? I am having mixed results. Sam and I are doing much better at keeping up with our budget. I want to get in better shape (typical I know). I bought a pair of running shoes and a Nike + ipod "system". Sam's bike and the trailer are getting a tune up and I even signed up for a Jazzercise membership.

I am failing in one area. Cutting out soft drinks. I knew not to try to cut them out completely but was going to just have a Dr. Pepper when I ate something like burgers or pizza. I crave not the caffeine though I do enjoy that. I crave the carbonation. I have tried to find something carbonated that is not as bad for me but I have not. I went to the grocery store this weekend and before I left I was considering just buying a 2-liter so that at least if I was going to have a soft drink it would be at grocery store, not Sonic prices. I walked into Albertson's and their front display was the promotional football shaped Dr. Pepper bottles on sale - 3 for $1. Usually the ones this size are over a dollar each. So, I came home with a box. Bad Christy.

Day 24

This afternoon we went to Ellie's 3rd birthday party. Look at the beautiful cake. Wait, what is that big blob on the second "l".Ick, it appears that Ellie had a full mouth of icing from her cookie when she blew out the candles. Luckily it was bright red drool so we could cut around it. Notice that drool in mid-air.

Day 23

Today we went to the Arboretum with Tara, Kyle and Lacy as well as Melissa and Luke. Kyle and Katherine are in the same class at school and are pretty good friends. I did not realize how good until I heard Katherine say, "Kyle do you want to hold my hand" and he did. I need to watch out! So cute though.

Day 22

Today it was very warm - 70+ degrees. So, after naps we spent about an hour outside.

Day 21

Tonight our community group met to say farewell to Josh, Tracy and their 4 kids as they are preparing to move to China on Saturday. This is the largest attendance we have ever had with all but one adult and all 11 kids at our house for dinner and prayer.

Day 20

Caroline has moved to the big section of the infant tub now that she is sitting. She spent the entire bath smiling at the cute baby in the mirror.

Day 19

All of the baby food that Madi and I made for Caroline would not fit in the ice cube trays at once so it took a few days to get it all frozen. Finally, all of the food cubes are made and in the freezer.

Day 18

Today was close up photo day. The first shot was the winning pose. Caroline has such a cute smile and I love her church dress, especially since it was a steal at a consignment sale. I love little girls wearing tights. Caroline became curious about the camera and started to get closer.
Momarazzi needs to stop taking my picture!
Katherine wanted a close up too. She wore another dress which was a bargain. She kept saying she was a princess.