God's Canvas

Wacky Wee One!

Peek A Boo!!

As usual, this post is long overdue! There is a neat place for kiddos that just recently opened here - it is called Peek A Boo Playtown. It has all these little "centers" - school, fire station, library, grocery store, house, workshop, etc. It also has a table of dinosaurs, a doll house table, a train table, a legos table, and a bug table, as well as a little area for kids 0-2 that has a ball pit and soft things to climb on. Wow is it fun! It is $7 (really $5 because I have used coupons to get in) and definitely well worth the money. Katie loves it - and I love that she is around other kids and has access to all those neat toys that we don't have at our house! It is so funny to see what her favorite thing to play with is - both of the times we went she played with totally different things! I also like that they have a party room that they open at lunch time so you can bring a lunch and eat while you are there. I can't wait to take her back - what a great activity for when it is rainy outside, or too hot/cold outside! And just for the record, I also do enjoy that it typically means a nice, long nap for Katie. :) For now, here are a few pictures from the two times we have gone with friends...

Daddy took this picture of us before we headed out for some fun!

Katie & Carter playing with the doll house. I love that Carter decided sitting on the table allowed easiest access to playing with it!

The first time, Katie LOVED grocery items!

It looks like Katie is directing Carter with the broom!! :)

Katie peering through the workshop window...so innocent and sweet.

The second time we went, she loved playing with the giant stuffed dalmatian (she obviously loves dogs - in fact, she chased a little boy around and kept pointing to the dog on his shirt...hilarious)!

Katie giving the "dog dog" a great big hug.

Watching the big kids run around on this climbing stuff - she wanted to play so badly but couldn't figure out how to run really fast on that equipment!

She loves opening and closing doors right now - even on the doll house!

Of course she found a big door - the Exit! Crazy girl...

Fun in Phoenix

OK - back to catching up! After we went to San Diego, Katie and I flew back to Phoenix with my Dad & Robbin. Brad stayed in CA because he had a week-long training. Katie and I had a blast in Arizona! We went shopping, playing with some of the kiddos out there, and did a lot of swimming. We were also out there to help celebrate my dad's birthday! Here are just a few pictures of our fun week out there! ....

A rare picture with a bow in her hair! I am fairly certain she discovered it shortly after this and then took it out and handed it to me.

Kissing herself in the mirror....she's a lover :)

Her favorite toy at Nanny & Papa's house was Ellie the Elephant!

On the move! I love this picture!

A cute picture with Nanny & Papa before heading to dinner to celebrate Papa's birthday!

Me with my Daddy!

My dad, me, & Katie - he seems to have issues keeping his eyes open!

Katie's present to Papa was his own baby snack cup fully stocked with all of the fun snacks - goldfish, cheerios, puffs, yogurt melts, little crunchies, etc. Dad kept eating Katie's snack mix, so she wanted to give him his own! I love this picture of them sharing a snack.

I was a wild woman and got a fun color of toenail polish when I got a pedicure. I also got these cute sandals at PAYLESS! I was so proud :)

We were out by the pool and let Katie eat outside - she was such a mess, so of course I had to take a picture!

I thought this picture wasn't too shabby, so I decided to post it. This was of me before heading to the airport to pick Brad up from his training. He flew into Phoenix that Saturday after he took the test and then we flew home on Sunday.

A pretty Arizona sunset

Once we got home, Katie's first stop was her chair. I know she had a great time out west, but she was thrilled to have her own stuff to play with and get back into her routine!

Big Girl Eating

This post will be of current events in the life of our sweet pea - more specifically, the eating and drinking life (which she loves)! She has started actually eating bites of food rather than me having to tear each item into little pieces. That is a big step, I think! Also, she has been great about the sippy cup, so a few days ago I offered her a sippy cup with no handles and she did wonderfully! Since she did so well with that, I tried to give her a big girl sippy - the kind with a hard spout, no handles, etc.....and she loved it! Just when I think we are nice and comfy at a stage, it is time for a new, fun adventure. While this isn't a HUGE deal, I thought it was exciting that she is transitioning to a "big girl" stage. We are working on the eating with forks and spoons, but still struggling there. Maybe that will happen soon! Another big transition that will happen next week is that Katie starts school! She will be going to Mom's Day Out 2 days a week at our church and I think she will LOVE it! More to come on that....as well as my effort to catch up on the posts swimming around in my head :)

Whirlwind

Well, let me give a little update on the house situation. First off, the housing market where we are is slightly stagnant. With that said, we got an offer after FOUR DAYS on the market! Insane, right??! With that offer, we finally came to terms and were under contract after SIX DAYS on the market. I was not emotionally prepared for it to happen so soon, but at least we are on the way through the hardest part (the inspection is tomorrow and appraisal should be later this week)!

That brings us to what we did this weekend - we looked at 20ish houses (12 yesterday and the rest today)! And we have been able to narrow the search down to two very solid houses. Oh, decisions, decisions. We are headed back out tomorrow to see the houses and hopefully really make a decision! Wow!

That is the latest on the house situation - I will definitely be continuing on my efforts to get caught up on my posting, but I must definitely post these short updates on big changes in our life!

California Dreamin'

A little over a month ago, we headed out west to visit San Diego! Brad had a week-long training out there, so we went a little early to take advantage of some sightseeing time! My dad and Robbin joined us for the long weekend, which was fun too. We had a great time - we went to the San Diego Zoo, walked around at the Hotel del Coronado, went to SeaWorld, ate some great food, and visited Newport Beach while we were taking Brad to his conference hotel! Here are a bunch of pictures of our adventure...enjoy!

Katie had to get used to the 2 hour time difference - plus, our plane didn't arrive until after 11 pm CA time, which meant after 1am her body time. Needless to say, the next morning, she kept sleeping and sleeping!

Once we arrived at the zoo, Katie felt like she could be our tour guide. Or maybe she just wanted to play with and rip up the map... :)

We saw a mama gorilla holding her baby - it was so sweet!

Really pretty bird - love that turquoise color!

As we were walking around, we saw this amazing peacock - he was protecting his family who was walking around with him. Pretty amazing to see this guy just wandering around!

I like zebras!

The polar bear eating and catching some rays!

The elephants were amazing...

Katie and her Daddy while we were riding the skycoaster back to the other side of the zoo

Of course we had to stop at the petting zoo! Katie was not so sure about the goats - I think she finally did touch one of their ears...

Family shot on the way out

Love this!

*SMOOCH!!*

The next day (Saturday), we drove to Coronado Island and walked around the hotel

Part of the hotel

Robbin & Dad

Brad & myself

Beautiful chandelier in the lobby area

That afternoon, we visited SeaWorld - of course, we had to see the Shamu Show! It is amazing that such large creatures can be so majestic...

Neat picture in part of the aquarium part

She was absolutely worn out - I have never seen her sleep in her stroller before...and no binky!

We stopped and watched the dolphins play

Another attempt at a family photo just before the Pet Rule show - it was adorable!

Katie clapping for the "dog dogs"

One of the dogs doing a trick

We were walking through the Sesame Street part and wondering if they had the characters walking around. All of a sudden, the theme song started and out ran all of the characters to perform! Here they are singing and running around....

Katie was SO excited - I think it may have been her favorite part of the trip! And if you will notice, it looks like Brad is enjoying it too :)

"I love Elmo!!"

One more shot of the red, furry guy! What great timing!

I think Katie had a great trip and really enjoyed all of the new experiences. She will be spoiled though because the San Diego Zoo is famous and our zoo is nothing close to that!

The pier at Newport Beach - for some reason, I think this picture is really neat!