Photo Shoot!

After our photo disaster last year at the beach, I opted for self photography and kept it to just Katie! I found a great linen dress at the Tot Trade and saved it for the beach "photo shoot." We got up early on our last day at the beach and headed out to take pictures.
No stress. Run around. Be a kid.

 

Smile if you feel like it.

 

No big deal if you don't.

 

Refuse to leave Woody Cowboy at home? Who cares?

 

Take the cutest picture with Nessie and Cowboy Woody in tow? Yep, that's what makes it one of my favorites!

 

Ten minutes later, we're back at the house and you're still game for a few more pictures!

 

Bye bye beach! Until next year!

 

Come on in, the water's fine.

The weather at the beach was just perfect. Much cooler than when we normally go. We were able to spend most mornings hanging out on the beach and then head in for lunch and naps.

The house we were staying in was a quick two minute walk to public beach access and then onto the sand and waves!

 

Katie loved the sand and loved building towers and castles. We searched for shells and fish and crabs and rocks.

 

Doug spent time buidling sand castles. Keep in mind that he's an engineer which = perfectionist in all things sand castle! He worked to find the right sand to use to build the various castles. Katie would get water from the ocean to help pack the sand and make the castle stronger. But as soon as she would pour the water, she would stomp the castle. No castle lasted long enough to get pictures, for sure!

 

We had such a great time splashing in the waves! Katie was a bit braver than she'd been last summer. She didn't do much splashing on her own, but could kick up a storm if someone was holding her hand! She even let me take her out in the waves and dip her in them!

 

Each day's trip to the beach was not complete without a meltdown upon returning to the house. She would've stayed out there from sun up to sun down if we let her!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

While we were at the beach, we took a family trip to a Myrtle Beach Pelicans baseball game. They are a single A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. My brother works for the AA Affiliate of the Rangers so there was a fun connection to the players.

We had a great time cheering the Pelicans on to a big win. My sister in law, Nancy, caught a foul ball outside the ballpark while waiting at will call for the tickets! My dad got us some great seats and Katie had a perfect view of the ballpark at her first ever baseball game.

 

We didn't get peanuts and cracker jacks, but we did get peanuts and dipping dots! The dipping dots were served in a small baseball cap/cup but she wasn't quite sure about them.

 

We moved from our excellent seats to a picnic area just for a different view of the ballpark and so we could be with the rest of our family. (We had a few last minute additions to our group and we couldn't get more tickets in the same spot.) Katie and Doug had a good time watching things so up close!

 

Katie is full of crazy faces and this one just couldn't get left off the blog!

 

After the game, we prowled around the ball park for a little while. My brother likes to scope out different stadiums and see how they operate and take notes for his team. One of the last events for entertainment was to let the kids run the bases after the teams had cleared off the field. We were half way out the ballpark and decided to let Katie do it. I ran onto the field with her and told her to touch every base. She bent down at each one and touched it. As she rounded third, I darted in front of her to get to home plate to take some pictures. As she neared home, she started screaming and freaking out crying. There was another mascot-esque character (guy dressed as a wrestler with a full mask) and it sent her packing. I had to squash the pictures and comfort my child who was "scared of that bad man."

 

My parents and brother, who had begun their exit of the ballpark, said Katie's run around the bases was caught on camera by their film crew and was on the television at the ticket window so they got to watch it. Man, I wish I knew a way to get a copy of that film. Katie has not stopped talking about getting to run the bases but her story always ends with the bad man who scared her!

Brave New Girl

We went to the beach with my family in mid June. My parents took Katie a few days before Doug and I were able to leave. When we arrived on Tuesday, Katie wanted to show us a video on my dad's phone of her jumping. I watched with bated breath as the video turned out to be Katie strapped into a harness on one of those bungee trampolines.

My Katie. My child who won't go down a slide at a playground. I remember reading a blog a while back about a lady whose daughter stepped out of her comfort zone and did one of these things. I remember reading it and thinking to myself that Katie would never in a million years do anything like that. Ever. And then this!

The next night after dinner we were walking down the main street of Garden City and Katie just non chalantly went and got in line for this thing again. She was confident and nervous at the same time. She didn't show much emotion, good or bad. But she got back in the harness and went to town jumping!

When she would slow down on the jumping, the guy running the jumpy thing came back and threw her higher to help her get jumping again.

I'm not going to try to "captionize" all of these pictures. But know that this mother's heart swelled with pride at my brave new girl!

This one needs a caption...She's asking her daddy to let her go jump just a "little bit" more.

3rd Times the Charm

Katie was a chunky baby, wearing 9-12 month clothes by her 6th month of life. So it made perfect sense to buy her a 12 month bathing suit her first summer when she was 7 months old. She was always biggest in her belly so considering this was a two piece, she didn't really the extra room so the rest of the bathing suit swallowed her! Then, last year, when she was 18+ months old, she fit into a bit more but it still wasn't the greatest. Now, finally, at 31 months, this 12 month bathing suit finally fits!

 

Now if only adult bathing suits were so generous with their ability to look cute regardless of how they fit!

Happy Father's Day!

looking for sharks with my daddy

 

walking hand in hand with my daddy

 

cheesing for the camera with my daddy

 

any ordinary day becomes the most fun when i'm with my daddy!

Katiechisms

Time to document some of the things Katie says that are worth noting! Plus some pictures! Win-win, right?

Katie hath not the patience of Job. I think I've mentioned that before. But she gives every task about 2 seconds worth of her effort and then exclaims, "Mommy, it's hard do (insert task)." It's funny because of the way she grunts as she says it and the because by the time I reach her to help, she's already figured it out.

 

If someone says something that she has never heard before, she says "What you say me?"

If someone says something she doesn't want to hear (it's time to go, NO, Stop, etc), she says "No want you say that to me." But then she doesn't drop it. You could be 15 minutes removed from the activity and she will keep repeating, "No want you say that to me."

The whole world is made up of parents to Katie. She calls all women, "mommies" and all men, "daddies."

 

For every thing that she does on her own, she says "No need your help mommy (or daddy)." A simple "I did it" would suffice but she has to rub it in that she's growing up.

She loves to tell me to "SLOW DOWN" when we're driving even if we're completely stopped. She also likes to say "Green mean GO Mommy" even if the light isn't green. I foresee a failed driver's test in her future.

 

She takes after me in that she has a new ailment every day. Literally, every day, she tells us "something hurt me" and then points to different body parts that may be hurting. After a little kiss, she seems to be better.

Everything in the past is "yesterday" to her. If you aren't careful, she'll lead you to believe we went to the park, the beach, and the movies "yesterday."

"Bad guys scare me" is a new thing now that we're watching movies that have antagonists and villians. She's not too afraid but it's a good excuse to get some extra cuddles.

 

This one's really weird...She tells us that she sees things when she closes her eyes. It all started when I was trying to talk to her about dreams at night and I mistakenly explained it as "stories we see when our eyes are closed." So now, she tells people "I see numbers and letters and animals when I close my eyes."

It tastes like chicken? Not to Katie. Everything tastes and smells like lemons to her. Her grape tylenol medicine - "taste like purple lemons." Peas taste like "tiny green lemons." Orange scented clorox wipes "(s)mell like lemons."

The other night at dinner at my parents house, she wanted some more cheese. She had already had some shredded cheese on her spaghetti but then started asking for more cheese. I told her we didn't have more shredded cheese and she said she wanted other cheese. So I went to the fridge and found some string cheese and pulled it out. She turned with a smile and said "that's what I'm talking 'bout."