Sassy Little Thing

So when Katie does something she knows she's not supposed to, I sternly say "No" and shake my head. If she is grabbing at something, etc, I will hold her arm/hand to help her get the message. Well, just today, she has started looking at me, doing said action she is not supposed to, looking at me, and shaking her head. She then proceeds to reach over and grab my arm. Oh dear....

Katie's First Birthday Shindig!

This post has been a long time coming, but I am finally getting to it!! Katie's first birthday party was great (even though we had a tornado warning and the most rain in a 48 hour period EVER in the Nashville area)! We had such a great time with friends and family! It was an open house, but most of the folks ended up staying the whole time (some stayed even longer because of the flooding!). Here is a picture summary of the great party. As you will see, the "theme" was pink and green and DOTS!! I absolutely love dots, so it was only fitting :) I hope Katie loves dots as much as I do! Anyway, here are the pictures - enjoy! Oh, and also check out the end of the post for links to some of the places I ordered from - love it!

The front door as folks walked (or swam) up! I made the wreath!

The table as people walked in - a newborn picture and the little goodies for all the kiddos to take home with them! I love that I even found candles to match the party!

The mantle with a Happy Birthday banner and dot balloons! :)

The cupcake tower and fruit table - I made the tower too!

A closer view of the cupcake tower with the smash cake

The yummy food!

The view of it all

Our friends Kara and Carter

The birthday girl woke up from her nap! She was so excited to see everybody - she is quite the little social butterfly...

Cee Cee and her little Squishy

A good pic of the birthday girl outfit!

Family picture :)

Little Sweet Pea with her Cat and Tyler

Katie and Claire watching the rain fall outside

Everyone gathered watching the weather because the storm sirens were going off - some of us ended up crowding in my closet (thank goodness I cleaned it!) or the guest bathroom just to be safe!

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday dear Katie, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Let the fun begin!!

Digging in!

Love this :)

She made quite the mess :) And loved every minute (and bite) of it!

Not too shabby, right??

Opening her gifts after a good nap

I think she is quite loved - look at all those cards!

Now didn't that look like fun?? Now, I wanted to give some credit for some of the OH-SO-CUTE goodies we had at the party. So, here we are! ....

Invitations: MNotes

Cute little hairbow: Twisted Ribbons

Embroidered shirt: Tootlebugs

Cupcakes & Smash Cake: About Cake, Etc.

Balloons & Banner: Polka Dot Market

Instructions for the cupcake tower found HERE
Instructions for the ribbon wreath found HERE

Rainy Day at the Beach

So, what do you do when it is a rainy day at the beach? Well, if your child is napping, you read a good book, listen to the rain, listen to the waves crash onto the beach, and eat lunch. When your child wakes up and has eaten lunch, you work on her walking skills! Yes, we are using an empty water bottle to entice her - and it sorta worked! She took about 3 steps at one time, and then 3 more right after that!

Another activity? Well the water bottle had to become empty somehow! Yes, we taught Katie how to drink water out of a water bottle.

Now, I think it's time to change out of our pajamas (since it IS 2:25 PM) and at least drive around to see if we can find something entertaining to do this afternoon!!

Life of the Party

First, let me say that I know I have some catching up to do. I sat down to begin a lengthy first birthday post and our internet at home was out. It ended up being out for almost 2 days, so needless to say, I have yet to do that post because we left for the beach!! We drove through the night so Katie would sleep and it worked wonderfully. We left at around 8 PM and she fell asleep at around 9:30. She slept til we stopped for gas/food at around 1 AM and went back to sleep when we got in the car ... and slept until we arrived at our destination! Whew!

This place is wonderful. I can't wait to upload the gorgeous pictures that I've taken on my new camera that Brad and Katie got me for Valentine's / Mother's Day! I definitely need to take a class to learn the ins and outs of the camera, but I am figuring things out slowly but surely.

We have loved playing in the pool and the ocean. I'm so glad Katie isn't afraid of the ocean...in fact, she is fascinated by the waves. She loves watching them come in and go back out. In the pool, she likes to stand on the side and "jump in". The second we stand her up on the little ledge, she quickly grabs our hands to hold onto (rather than our hands being under her armpits holding her up) and stands there with a great big grin. We count ONE - TWO - THREEEE and help her jump in and she giggles and then actually turns around to try to move back toward the wall.

On a different note, we went out to eat last night and Katie was the life of our area....she loves waving at everyone, blowing raspberries, and grunting. There were 4 different tables of people that she befriended and loved every minute of being the center of attention. She smiles that sweet grin, waves, laughs, waves more, and grunts/growls. Then she starts talking - she talks with her hands (typical girl!) and it is hilarious. I am so glad we don't have a shy baby on our hands!

365 Days/52 Weeks/12 Months

Wow! My little sweet pea is really one year old. Where in the world did the time go!? While I am quite thankful I am not up every 2 hours having to feed her, I definitely miss the little, snuggly baby. Every day I try to just sit and watch her and soak it all up. This age is really so much fun as she is learning new things on a daily basis. She is a ham and definitely knows she is cute. She has a "snorty grin" that is absolutely hilarious and oh so cute. She is quite social and loves to shop. I am afraid we have a little diva on our hands! She definitely loves her Daddy - she gets so excited when he gets home from work everyday! I know everyone always says that the time flies even faster when you have children - I definitely have to agree with that after seeing how quickly this first year has gone. We are such a blessed family. Now, here are some of this month's stats:

Weight: 24 pounds even (if you recall, she was only in the 10th percentile at 4 months - now she is in the 90th!!!)
Height: 29.75 inches (70-75th percentile...she has grown 10 inches in one year!)
Diaper Size: Size 4
Clothing Size: She still fits in some 12 month things, but we are definitely phasing in the 18 month items!
Food/Eating: Katie has done great with the transition to cow's milk. We are giving her organic whole milk when we can. And she is not using a bottle at all - she is 100% sippy cup and doing a wonderful job with it! As for food, once again - there is nothing she doesn't like! She actually gets quite impatient with meal time if you don't give her food fast enough!
Talking: She is still doing about the same thing. She is babbling up a storm and loves to read. Also, she is really doing a good job copying what we say, so I feel like she will really start adding to her vocabulary!
Crawling/Walking: She is a speed crawler now! She loves it when I chase her saying "I'm gonna get you!!" - I love it too! As for walking, it still hasn't happened (aside from the occasional step). Come on, Katie! It should be anytime now! She does love walking behind her push toys.
Sleeping: Thankfully, she's still a champ! Last night she slept for over 13 hours!
Teeth: Right now, when Katie smiles, you can see 3 teeth on the bottom. One of her top teeth has cut through. There are about 3 or so more teeth about to cut through any day now. When she eats, she loves to eat crunchy things that she can bite.
Other: She is good at putting a ball in a toy or shapes in their slot (with a little help regarding matching the shape with the slot). Like I mentioned earlier, she does love books. She also has a dolly (thanks, Grandma!) that she loves to play with in the car. She will still love on you when you say "Awwww" - she puts her head down on your shoulder and hugs you. Love it!

On her actual birthday - happy girl!

She loves to pull up on the highchair and play with the straps!

She also loves to pull up on the door and look for the dog!

Our Cutie Patootie

I just uploaded all of the pictures from Katie's birthday celebrations and wanted to post a quick picture! Look at that cutie patootie :)

A 12 month post and a great big 1st birthday post will be coming soon, so check back!!

Prayers for the Nashville Area

I wanted to let those of you who do not live in the Nashville areas about what is going on here. As you may have seen on the news, we had over 15 inches of rain in 2 days and have had massive flooding. Please keep the residents affected by the flooding in your thoughts and prayers. We are safe and sound - just had a lot of rain. There was some flooding in our neighborhood, but I think everyone is fine. I did get out and drive around a little yesterday and was amazed at the amount of water in our neighborhood (I took some pictures and will try to post those soon). I cannot fathom living in areas where the water is up to the traffic lights or where the water current has piled 6 cars on top of eachother. On I-24 in Antioch, a portable classroom floated down the interstate. Opryland Hotel currently has 6 feet of water in it. Wow. I just can't get over the devastation.

Here are just a few pictures that I found of the flooding (though they don't even begin to touch on the extreme conditions found in some areas)...

Downtown Nashville - the Cumberland River runs right through downtown. It is considered at flood stage at 40 feet - it is expected to crest at 51.5 feet today at noon. There are a lot of buildings along 1st and 2nd avenues that have significant water damage. In fact, I just saw that the Schermerhorn (symphony building) has 25-30 feet of water in their basement...

This is Pinkerton Park just outside of downtown Franklin. We were just there with friends on Thursday for Katie's birthday. Now it is under water thanks to the Harpeth River running right alongside the park.

Another shot of downtown Franklin - this is just north of downtown Franklin. That building on the left with the blue roof is a car dealership. Unbelievable.

Needless to say, Katie's birthday party weekend has been quite memorable. I will do a post detailing the fun we had, but thought I would mention it did involve a tornado warning and everyone piling into mine and Brad's closet, as well as the guest bathroom. Aside from the weather insanity, we did have a great time. Katie loved having friends and family over! We are also going to the pediatrician for her 12 month appointment this afternoon. Will do a 12 month post with her stats soon!!