P-H-I-L-A-D-E-L-P-H-I-A

(Geno's famous Philly Cheesesteaks)

Okay, so not my favorite town (Elsa, wouldn't you agree?), but I loved the people in it! At the end of May I flew up to Philly to see one of my dearest friends from my Ricks' College days - Elsa! It has been several years since I had seen her last at that time her oldest boy was just a few months old, now almost 5, plus two more cute boys to the mix (and when I say cute, I mean CUTE)!

(Elsa with Samson, Sean ducking for cover, Jacob in front with Me and Madeleine on my back)

Sad to say one of the highlights of our time together was riding around town in the pimped up minivan I rented - maybe someday we'll get one - man times have changed! It was seriously fun though - Jacob, her oldest, couldn't get enough of the buttons to open & close doors and having the space to all be together was a blast.



(Samson almost 6 months & Madeleine almost 10 months)

While there we reminisced on our good times together, I played Lego StarWars with Jacob (and man, he is good!), we went to the Smith Playground, which is a fun park for kids and they have this great indoor wooden slide to go down, ate "authentic" Philly Cheesesteaks (I think I'll stick to my Philly Connection down here in GA - I like sauce), visited the very steps that Rocky ran up (classic!), and roamed the Reading Terminal Market.




(Sean, Jacob, and Elsa with her amazing mom skills holding a 2 year old and a 6 month old while sliding down the big wooden slide)

I'm so glad I was able to see Els while she is living (for the time being) on the east coast. We had a blast spending time with her and her cute family - and I give a lot of credit to her boys for getting Madeleine to really build her confidence on her walking.

Pigtails are the BEST!

My baby is almost one!!! It has been a little depressing, I am so sad that she is no longer a baby. Yesterday for church I attempted pigtails for her hair, and we have... SUCCESS! Andrew had already left for church so it was his little surprise when we walked in with her new 'do.

At 11 months she is a fast walker/runner. No "real" words yet, but she definitely knows what you are saying. May favorite "tricks" she does now: she knows where her head is (thanks to head, shoulders, knees, and toes - however the shoulders, knees, and toes are yet to be found), she is taking after her momma in her dancing abilities (what a great booty shake she has!), if you talk on the phone or say "hello" she immediately puts her hand to her ear like she's talking on the phone, her wave is being perfected from a hand flop to an open and closed palm. My not-so-favorite new tricks include: throwing everything (and I mean everything) on the floor - I don't do the constant retrieval so once it goes overboard, she does not get it back, she transfers all her toys all over the house (I find little things everywhere!), and she is becoming the biggest handfull at stores always wanting to get down and then run away (I can only imagine what people are thinking when they see this midget baby running through the stores). Luckily she is still a great eater, she eats just about anything you but in front of her and she loves ice cream, cheese, and crackers (not all together) I have a sweet tooth on my hands, and I don't restrict too much - hey, I want to have her forward-facing sometime before she turns two!!! I am counting down the days when I can get rid of the formula (man, what a pain!!!) and for bottles and pacies to go away.

All in all we are so in love with our little monster.

Catch-Up

This has to be one of my favorite seasons of life. We have been busy with all sorts of activities the past month or so and to be quite honest, I haven't posted because we've been enjoying every moment we can by the pool.

My niece, Katelyn and my sister, Kimberly moved to New Mexico at the end of the month (don't get me started or I'll start bawling). I've always had a special bond with Katelyn. Kimberly and I were pregnant for the very first time together (only a day apart) and I miscarried and Kimberly delivered Katelyn. So Katelyn (now almost 4) has always been extra special to me especially because Kimberly and I have always been so close. The past month or so before they left, I wanted it to be extra special so she could have fun memories of things we have done together. Not only have we giggled over watching reruns of the Smurfs, but we have snuggled with care bears, sung the Little Einteins theme song, played with sidewalk chalk, made ugly play-dough creations, swam in the inflatable pool on my deck, hid in many games of hide-and-go-seek, baked cookies and bread, endured several games of Memory, worked in pre-school workbooks (getting stickers on our good job!), sung primary songs including (but not limited to) I Am a Child of God, Tell Me the Stories of Jesus, and Scripture Power, riding in the bike trailer, and those are just some of the activities we did around the house. We also have been to the Children's Museum in downtown Atlanta, the Yellow River Game Ranch, the (as Katelyn calls it) inside-door-pool, the strawberry patch, visiting Grandma Cutchshaw, countless trips to the playground and park and equally enumerous trips to Chik-Fil-A and the playground there. Memorial Day weekend we spent every moment we could as a family together for one last time before they started their trek west. My Mothers Day gift was a highly coveted digital SLR the just newly released Canon Rebel XSI and I have been taking pictures up a storm. So we corralled the troops and with a little help from a tripod (and listening to a lot of moaning and groaning from said troops) we took family pictures together.

These are some of my favorite pictures during this time:

Inside-Door Pool

We went actually during spring break, but the inside-door pool was a big hit because it was ultra shallow and easy for Katelyn to walk around and play. It had a little kids playground, a bigger kids slide, and a lazy river. I've learned that trying to take a small child and a baby - not so much fun. Luckily I ran into a friend there that was a big help as I was making runs to change diapers or taking a 3 year old to the potty.

Children's Museum

The 2nd Tuesday of the month is free at the Children's Museum in downtown Atlanta so Kayleen and Dylan met us down there and Andrew ended up tagging along as well. They have some fun activities - farm to grocery store exhibit, baby and up play area, simulated rainforest with river and waterfall you could 'fish' from (this was Katelyn's favorite), moon sand tables, and a spot you could paint on the 'wall', to name a few.

My nephew, Dylan's 1st birthday

Dylan turned one and Kayleen threw a great party at a local park. We had a great fun spending quality time with family and watching the big little man on his special day.

Yellow River Game Ranch

Probably one of our most favorite things we did together was going to the Game Ranch, which is a wildlife nature center I went to when I was a child and hadn't been back since! So it was eye-opening for me as well. When you first pull into the parking lot you can hear the roosters crowing and Katelyn (getting very excited) says - "Oh, Kara - they've got chicken boo boos my favorite!".

[The chicken boo boo came from an incident in coloring a chicken. Katelyn was coloring with a friend and that friend colored outside of the lines - Katelyn is an excellent colorer and you will hardly see her make that mistake. When she saw the coloring outside the lines, she called out her friends mistake and said, "That's okay, it's just a chicken boo boo". Now a chicken boo boo refers to something very funny and when you are sad, that's what Katelyn will say. It was the best when we were riding in the car and Madeleine would start crying and Katelyn would start yelling CHICKEN BOO BOO, CHICKEN BOO BOO - I would start cracking up!]

Once we paid and made it through the gate the deer are right there demanding food - and I mean demanding! It's pretty funny because in nature they are such scaredy cats and these deer knew you had food - you have to push them out of the way and then they start following you. In the Game Ranch they have several 'farm' animals as well as animals native to this area, and a good majority are just walking around with you. Some of my favorite moments on this trip included Katelyn wanting to pickup the chipmunks and squirrels to take with her (they are also not afraid of people and will eat out of your hand - a little unsettling to me at first), Katelyn's fear of the big (and ultra slow) turkey - I love the picture with her nervous smile with the turkey in the background, while looking at the pigs a rooster had come up and started pecking Madeleine's feet - my first reaction was to freak out but I noticed she didn't mind a bit, and spending time in the rabbit pen. All in all a really fun field trip.

Family Pictures

I am so grateful that we have these pictures - I sure do love my family. Oh, and Andrew is absent from the photo with me and Madeleine because he said he was done taking pictures for the day - such a cooperative family!!!

Walking!?!?!?!

Madeleine turned 10 months yesterday and this past week started her latest and greatest trick...

9 Months

Madeleine is now 9.5 months so I better tell you all her latest tricks and stats! We took her for her 9 month checkup at the beginning of the month and found out that she is now:

Weight: 16.1 lbs (5th %)

Height: 27.5 in (50th %)

Head: 44.5 cm (75th %)

At 9 months she is in to EVERYTHING! She is a crawling champ and wants to be everywhere. The other day I went upstairs for something while Andrew was still downstairs with her and before he knew it she was halfway up the stairs! Time for the dreaded baby gates. I just installed them this past week, and while the peace of mind is priceless, what a pain it is to take laundry upstairs or do anything which requires navigation through the two gates. She is getting very good at free standing and I know it won't be too long before there are steps to follow. Despite being a flyweight, she eats a ton and is always eating. I was concerned about her weight, but the doctor wasn't and said that she will most likely always be petite and because she is so active (she was a constant jumping bean during her exam) that she would have a hard time gaining substantial weight.

Towards the beginning of the month she mastered clapping and waving, and even more exciting (for us any way) she will do this when you ask her to. She loves to play, especially chasing games and peek-a-boo, and she loves to be sang to - we have a special lullabye we sing before bedtime.

She continues to be an excellent sleeper, she sleeps from about 8-8 without waking and still will take a morning and afternoon nap, or as I like to call them, my moments of sanity!

Some favorite pictures from the past month:

Strawberry Fields Forever

At the end of April I packed Madeleine, Katelyn and Papa and we went to the strawberry fields by my parents' house to pick strawberries. These strawberries are an annual favorite! I have never tasted berries quite that sweet and yummy, they are a real treat. I initially was going to take the two girls by myself and then at the last minute dad was coming along and most gratefully so! What was I thinking trying to take a 9 month old and a 3 year old trying to pick fruit? Dad kept Katelyn occupied and I carried Madeleine on my back in my Mei Tai carrier. I picked two very full gallons of strawberries and suffered for it the next few days by having my thighs and calfs on fire from squatting to pick berries while carrying Maddy on my back. However, I would not trade it for the world. Katelyn had a ball, and Madeleine fell asleep on my back. I love making memories like these.

Getting ready to go!

Good pickins (Andrew loves that Dad is in his old OZ jacket :)

Me and my aching back!

Papa and Katelyn

Incriminating Photographs...

My girlfriends and I took off to the GA mountains for a weekend of fun and relaxation - sadly this was about a month ago and I am just now getting to this post (shame on me)! June and Kim worked hard on all the details and had so many great ideas to keep the weekend lively and a chance to make it a little more meaningful. The food was to die for good (we all chipped in on dinners) and the entertainment was fabulous. We were supposed to come with our bucket list (things to do before we expire) and 10 favorite things (like on Oprah's my favorite things) so we could get great product ideas from others who have tried and true excellent products they can't live without (or don't want too)!



We also drew names for a secret sister. I drew Rebecca. The gifts for our secret sister were supposed to be simple little items like candy or lotion - but I jazzed up my packaging with my signature hot pink and hot green polka-dot ribbons. Imagine my surprise when the first gift I got from my secret sister had the same pink ribbon around it. At first I was thinking it could be a coincidence or Rebecca was feeding my secret sis my ribbons to do their own jazzing until the next surprise came with more pink and green ribbons - the gig was up - I was on to you Rebecca! I thought it was hilarious - we ended up drawing each others names, but she didn't know I had her. I loved busting her chops about this on the day of discovery - here we are with our shared signature ribbons...



Two very memorable items of entertainment from the weekend included our "makeovers" and our "Me" books. June had us draw a card labeling us either a makeup artist or a client and then as a team we drew a time period. I was a client, Lisa was my artist and our "time period" was 'Night of the Living Dead'. We then had an hour to get into costume - this is what we came up with...



From this angle you don't really get to see all the leaves in my hair or the fake rubber snake - but I LOVE Lisa's joy on her face for this shot!

Kim and Rebecca were paired, as well Katherine and Ruth Ann, and Regina and Sherry. They had the 80's, Victorian Era, and Rennaisance woman.



From the moment we arrived to the next night Sherry was buried in these books she had brought with her, and we were all harassing her trying to figure out what in the world she was doing and could she please put it down. Well as always with Sherry, we were in for a treat. For each person she had bought these "All About Me" books, and in them she had created a section for each person who was there to write a funny memory, favorite attributes, what you have learned, your personal details for whomever the book belonged to. So everyone came home with a book with all the wonderful stories, memories, attributes everyone admired about you - it was priceless.

I had such a great time being in the company of such great women that make me laugh - it could not have been a more perfect weekend.