No tricks but lots of treats :)

What a fun Halloween we had!  Having children definitely brings a whole new light to these holidays that just wasn't there before.  It is so much fun...like getting to be a kid all over again!  We really had a fun, busy day yesterday for Halloween.  Since it fell on Sunday, we went to church in the morning, then went and had lunch over at Grandmama's house, then home to get ready for the big neighborhood Halloween party for the kids.  We headed over to Will's house first to get a few shots of the cutest little monkey and ladybug I've ever seen!  Forgive me...I took a ridiculous amount of pics.

I realize this doesn't look exactly like a Halloween shot, but I would be completely remiss if I did not include this photo of Kate before she put on her costume trying out Daddy's duck call.  She was fascinated by this thing...and made Daddy proud in the process.

Happy Lil' Ladybug & Coordinating Treat Sack :)

Anything good in there, Monkey?

Sweet ladybug :)

Cute and HAPPY monkey!! :)

Yeah, Halloween's cool...

Climbing the steps with a little help from Great-Grandmommy and Great-Grandaddy

Costumes, check.  

Treat sacks, check. 

Sippies, check.  

Let's get this show on the road!  Trick or treat!

Laughing with Nana and Great-Grandaddy

Kate was fascinated by the cute little chicken.  

Hiney shot...lovin' the monkey's backside.

Cy, Ansley, Joe, and Kate:  neighborhood buddies!

More neighborhood friends!  Hugh, Emily, Kate, and Joe

Daddy's lil' Ladybug

Papa came by late to see Will and Kate in their costumes.  Grandpa was admitted into the hospital this weekend and hasn't been feeling very well, so Dad's been spending a lot of time down at the hospital with him.  Praying for renewed strength and health for him soon.   Glad Papa got to swing by for a little bit though!

Monkey and Ladybug with Nana and Papa

That was a fun night, wasn't it Monkey?!

Quite a change from Halloween last year!  What a difference a year makes, huh?  Can't believe how much they've grown. 

Last year's Halloween costume:  Sleepy little bunny, just 4 weeks old.  So sweet.

Happy Halloween!

Piggy Tails!!!!!!

Oh what an awesome surprise I got coming home form work today and walking into Kelly's to pick up Kate.  Kathryn had managed to get her hair into pig tails!!!  Yay!!!!  I've been waiting for this day since I found out we were having a little girl...so, world, meet Kate's piggy tails!

Oh let the fun begin :)

Trouble

I'd like to begin this post mentioning Kate's 1-year check up appointment.  It's been a few weeks ago now since I've taken her, but I don't recall commenting on it.  Dr. Massey said she looks great and all seems to be well.  Joe was unable to make it to this appointment, for which he owes me BIG, considering she had FOUR shots.  She was not happy with me by the time we left the doctor's office.  Needles have never bothered me.  I can sit and watch as it goes right into my arm and not bat an eye.  But I sure hate having to watch her get one.  And we have to go back in 2 weeks for a flu shot booster.  Ugh.  She weighed 24 lbs. and was a whopping 31" long...97th percentile for length!!!  From where she gets off being tall is beyond me!
We've had an interesting past few days with Kate.  Her curiosity is at an all-time high and she is into EVERYTHING.  The term "baby-proofing" has taken on a whole new meaning in our household.  Just this past Wednesday we were over at Will's house and playing in his room, where I was bragging on Kate to my sister about how she hasn't chewed on the crib like Will has, and how we hadn't had to go buy those gummy crib rail covers.  Well, what does she do on Thursday, the VERY NEXT DAY?!  Kathryn calls me at work and tells me that she has been gnawing on her crib all day.  I got home from work and walked into her room with her to check out the crib and yep, she got it pretty good.  She did more damage to her crib in one day than Will did to his over a few weeks of gnawing on it.  The dark finish from the crib was all over the place, including on her face.  It looked like a woodchuck had gotten a hold to that poor crib.  I just looked at it with her and asked her, "What did you do?  That wasn't a very good girl, was it?" while she looked up at me and just smiled and laughed while pointing at the crib.  Hmmm.....not good. Like I said, TROUBLE.  I called Joe and had him run by Babies-R-Us on the way home to get the gummy covers to put over the rails.  I haven't noticed her trying to chew on the rails again.

Then, the very next day, Kate discovered the stairs at my sister's house.  She has never expressed even the least bit of interest in our stairs, nor in Kelly's, so this one took us all by surprise.  But a-climbin' she went and thankfully Kathryn got her in time before she was able to take any tumbles.  Today we were over at Will's house and I told Kate, "Show Mommy how you climbed those stairs."  And off she went, right on up!  Oh my.  My baby gate has been in the garage the past few weeks...guess it's time to break it on out.  

She's also getting into the whole kitchen cabinet and drawer thing.  I figured the little cabinet door locks would be enough, but we have a good number of drawers in our kitchen as well and she seems to be more into those.  So, it's back to Babies-R-Us to find the locks for the drawers.  

We've had a great weekend so far, but missing Joe/Daddy.  He left yesterday to go be with Beverly as she recuperates from her knee surgery.  He'll be home this evening.  This morning we went to the playground with Will.  I figured since she loved climbing those stairs so much maybe she would also love climbing on the jungle gym at the playground.  Hmmm....not so much just yet.  This is SUCH a fun age...they are so funny to watch.  We laugh a lot!  But it's also a very busy age...we have to be right there for every step because you never know what they're going to get in to next.  

Steed's Dairy Farm

We took a little visit out to Steed's Dairy Farm here in town this afternoon.  Neat place!  Probably geared a little more toward older kids than Kate's age, but that's alright!  We still enjoyed it...Kate especially loved the petting zoo.

Strolling in...

It's Fall-Time!

Checking out the baby pumpkin with Daddy

Looking at the baby cows...cute!

The goats

Checking out the donkeys

Kate loved the donkeys

...and the piggies...

Future animal lover?

We tried out the swings, but weren't too sure about it.

...so we went to play in the sand instead.

Playing in the box filled with corn kernels.

This was a lot of fun until she decided she'd like a few in her mouth.  Corn came spilling out of her diaper when we got her home and changed her!

Daddy decided he'd like to try to take her down the slide...

...but when they got to the top they told him she was too little to ride the slide:(

Oh well...

Maybe next year!

Visit to the Park

Yesterday evening Joe and I took Kate and Casey to the park for a bit to kill some time before dinner.  It was such a beautiful evening and made sense to be outdoors.  This is a beautiful area over behind the Columbia County Courthouse and the Library.  There is a walking track and a few playground sets as well as an outdoor amphitheater.  And TONS of children and dogs.  Fun place to go play!  They seemed to enjoy it, although the other dogs kept Casey pretty tense the whole time.  So afterward we took her across the street to her favorite 'play place'..."The Field" as Joe has called it the past 5 years, and just let her run wild for a few minutes.  

The girls checking out the scenery

Just a-swangin'

Peeking through the bars...funny face

Kate and Daddy on the see-saw

Sliding!

Kate and Mommy on the see-saw

This is F-U-N!

All that fun, AND....I come home to a broken dryer.  Not good.  Saturdays are typically good laundry days for me...and I had big plans for today.  Ugh.  Hopefully Joe will be able to fix it shortly.  

Just a Little Update...

Another good week.  Kate's still working hard at walking.  She actually took her first 2 official steps on her own this past Sunday.  I had her by the shirt and let go for a few seconds and she managed to squeak out two little steps on her own before falling down on her hiney.  Her feistiness is also showing itself.  Kate definitely knows exactly what she wants all the time and will let you know.  We've been seeing a few little tantrums here and there...I'm sure only a small taste of what's to come!  Mom tells me my fits were legendary...so I know this is just payback.  :)  This morning after breakfast I took her out for a little walk (something she normally loves).  The fussing started about halfway in, and I was forced to turn around and come back home.  She just wasn't having it this morning (probably tired), so yep, I picked her up out of the stroller and carried her the whole way home while pushing the empty stroller.  Totally gave in.  I know I was quite a site lugging her 24 pounds up the hill on one hip and pushing the stroller with the other hand.  I think she's figuring me out....already.

Also this week I went and purchased for us a carpet cleaner.  The rug in Kate's room has taken a serious beating, partly due to the fact that it is WHITE (who willingly actually buys a WHITE rug?!?!?!) and LARGELY due to Casey.  For some reason, since we brought Kate home from the hospital, this rug has been one area that Casey just loves to lounge on, and if you're lucky, she'll roll over on her back and rub herself all over it for you.  I really wish I wasn't such a clean freak, but yes, I am.  And not looking to change any time soon.  I'm thinking maybe once baby #2 comes along I'll ease up on the dirt thing a little.  Hopefully so, for my sanity.  I vacuum our house about 4-5 times weekly these days.  Anyway, the rug cleaner did not work.  I've determined there is no hope for this poor rug in Kate's room.  Thinking about ordering another that is a little more dirt-friendly and durable. Which is really a shame because I really do love her rug.

This is Kate laying on the rug when she was 3 months old.  You can only imagine what it looks like almost one full year later.  Too embarrassed to show it.

Kate sure is fun these days!  She is playing so good and really enjoying her toys and being outdoors.

Little Lady

Reading "Elmo Says..." before bed

Look at our big girl!  Riding her 4-wheeler from Nana and Papa

Sweet Birthday Girl, possibly reflecting on her 1st year?? :)

Yay!  I love being One!!

Strolling her baby around the house

"I'm gonna gitchyoo, Mommy!!!"

We are looking forward to a fun weekend at home...no real plans other than to take Kate to the pumpkin patch on Saturday.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful...it's finally cooling off!  Such a great time of year!