Happy Halloween!

Spooktacular

Today we took Kathryn up to Lifetime Fitness where they were having a "Spooktacular" event for children.  It took over 3 basketball courts and the rock climbing section of the gym.  There were multiple bounce houses, face painting, pumpkin decorating, a DJ, food (hot dogs, pizza, cake and cookies), and other crafty things to do.  Minis had so much fun!  Oh and I forgot to mention, BALLOONS EVERYWHERE!  My child loves her some balloons.  She walked all over the gym, carrying her balloon sword, with a lady bug on her little baby cheek.   Thank you so much to Gorgeous and Grandpa for inviting us!  Oh and I forgot to mention, there was a tornado warning in NRH so we had to take shelter for a little bit in the locker rooms.  Craziness!

Walking in to the Spooktacular event

Hangin' out with Grandpa

My cute little lady bug

Checking out all the fun things to do with Dad

Still has her eye on those balloons!

Mommy and Mini

Making a spooky picture frame with cousin Madison

The place was packed!

Picking out her pumpkin to decorate

About to get her face painted....not too sure about it

Only cried for a minute

She stole someone's balloon sword...oops!

Starting to get a little tired

She wouldn't put the thing down...as you will see from the video :)

This video makes me laugh so hard....who needs to work out when you have a 13 month old who just started walking?!?

                             

Swinging & Sunglasses

A couple of days ago I took Mini to our neighborhood park to swing at the playground.  I must admit I felt like I had deprived her of a milestone that most other mothers have let their babies make by her age.  I see pictures all over Facebook of younger babies swinging at the park, laughing and having a good time.  K is 13 months old, and she has never been in a swing let alone a public park swing.  So we got packed up, and walked the short distance over.  I put her in the baby swing, and lets just say the tears started flowing.  I pushed her gently, reassuring her constantly that everything was ok.  She was not having it, even after watching other kids swing happily besides her.  Oh well, at least I tried.  Maybe she'll have better luck with her dad!  :)

Ok at first

After I quit pushing her, she was pretty happy watching the other kids

Look Ma, no hands!

Checkin' out the ducks

My little hootin' hadrosaur

Sassing her mother like always

I find this picture absolutely beautiful

:)

Mama loves that smile

Chisholm Park in Hurst, TX

Today, I came home from work to this beautiful child walking up and down our sidewalk.   Amazing!

FYI- she has never left her sunglasses on before!

I cannot get enough of my beautiful child.  I know every parent says this, but really, I am obsessed with her!!!

Look at those beautiful baby curls, just like her dad!

These two are so amazing together.  Already such a beautiful daddy-daughter bond!

And to finish it up....

CHEESE!

Happy Friday everyone!  :)

The Sate Fair of Texas

Yesterday we took Kathryn to the State Fair.  Not only was it her first time, but James' too!  I wanted to take them to see everything kid-friendly (no rides) and leave nothing out.  Well, 7 hours later I think I accomplished that!  We started off looking at the Dallas Polices' horses, then went to the auto show.  We ate frito pie, a chili cheese dog (James), beer (James), strawberry chill, and a funnel cake.  The food was so yummy!  After seeing the Marine War Memorial, we finished the day off with the Children's Petting Zoo.  We had such a great time.

Checking out all the fun things to do at the fair

That's Elsie the Bordon cow!

Looking at honey bees with dad

Showing off her walking skills 

Taking a break at the pretty fountains

Eating saltine crackers at the auto show

Her car when she turns 16 ;)

Can you find us?

Chillin in Chanel 

Posing with the original Big Tex's head

Pretty baby

Piggy!

Oh just running from a tornado :)

I won a pairing knife!

This happened for almost an hour...amazing

See ya next year!

The perfect ending to a perfect day

We had so much fun at the fair and to top it off the Rangers beat the Yankees!  What a great day.  Until next year, see ya fair!

Day Care & Flu Shots

Today was an interesting day.  To try and explain: James and my work schedule is basically completely opposite.  James goes in to work at 3pm and gets off at 1am.  He has Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off.  I work Monday through Friday, 7a-4p.  Basically, Mon-Wed we play tag.  He watches her, then my mom watches her, then I pick her up and take her home.  James gets off in the middle of the night, I wake up a few hours later and go to work.  And it starts all over again.  Half of the week we don't even see each other.  But, that's the sacrifice we have to make in order to a) have a day off together (Saturday) and b) have Kathryn not go to day care.  Needless to say, this schedule has been hard on us the last few months.  My surgery and being out a few weeks didn't help.  Today we started seriously considering day care, in order to relieve my mom a little (she has her 3 days a week) and to try and keep our sanity.  It wouldn't be more than 2 days a week. As a working mother, I can't imagine dropping my child off with a complete stranger.  It quite frankly scares the s%$# out of me.  On the positive side, my Mini would make friends with other babies (no more than 4 to be exact), and would be taught different things each day.  On top of that, the day care I am considering has video monitoring.  Meaning I can watch my baby online all I want.  Heck yes!  My job involves a computer 100% so this is pretty sweet!  Although I could see myself going insane watching her all day....lol.  Back to it....this is my dilemma.  One that I thing doesn't involve a choice.  So, I am going to stick to the positives and look at what pre-school (I am no longer going to call it the dreaded word day care) can do for her.  Teach her, socialize her, and immunize her.  Well, maybe not the last part, but at least she wouldn't miss her entire Kindergarden year!

After that big decision, I had to take Kathryn to get her flu booster shot.  Yuck.  I am the ridiculous mother that cries more than her child does at the doctor's office.  And today James wasn't there to hold Kathryn so I could step outside the room.  I had to suck it up and hold my baby's hand while she received the shot.  Lucky for her (and me), it hardly phased her.  Nothing a paci and Momma's keys can't cure.  I swear everywhere I go people want to steal my child.  She is just that beautiful.  Such a charmer, such a flirt.  All the nurses just thought she was the biggest ham!

Afterwards, I took her home and laid her down for a nap.  She woke up screaming crying drenched in sweat.  It was either her shot (which I know was sore, because mine hurt like heck the day I received it) or her tooth.  I think it was a combination of both.   So what do I do?  Well let Kathryn run around naked of course!

 That top tooth is really starting to poke through!  My sweet Mini is just going through the ringer.  So, Mommy gave her a warm bath, big bottle and we snuggled on the couch and watched Dinosaur Train.  I'm embarrassed to admit how much I like that show.  :)