I forgot I had wanted to write about last week's Bible study session, so I'm going to do that now while I'm thinking about it. Last Wednesday was one of those mornings when I just didn't even have the desire to do anything, let alone go to my Bible study.  But I went anyway...and I totally believe the Lord had me go for a reason. There were so many points made during that section of the study that touched on some things I've been going through lately...almost as if that day's study was meant for me and me alone. I won't go into a bunch of detail here, but a few random things mentioned:  All relationships are subject to change.  Deep relationships take time - even one with Jesus, so give Him consistent opportunity in your life.  The more you delight in the Lord the more your life and desires will change.  On the issue of forgiving others, if not for any other reason - you forgive for God because he commands this of you. On the issue of temptation, be proactive and not reactive.  Be persistent in your prayer as long as you keep the prayer burden.  Disobedience is "costlier" than obedience.  If you are going through hard times - wrestle with the Lord until He blesses you - let Him know that you are there for the long haul. The issue of forgiveness has been a hard one for me the past few months.  Mainly because I don't really understand what the word "forgive" means...what does it mean to forgive?  I've sort of come to the conclusion that forgiveness is just not an easy term to define, but that it doesn't really matter. What matters most is that God tells us to forgive and we must do so. I'm sure I'll still struggle with it from time to time, but I know that I can always come to God with my struggle.

    

Aug 2 ~ Tonight was the last night of swimming lessons for the girls. I brought both the digital camera and video camera to capture everything.  Both girls received certificates for completing their classes.

 

Aug 4 ~ This morning I went into church and helped with preparing communion for the weekend services.  We had many ladies show up to help, so we weren't there too long.  Communion prep is one of my duties as a deaconess - still trying to figure out how else I can serve...hopefully with time it will all come into place.

     Tonight we all went over to Brian and Shawn Pierce's house to hang out and watch the Hooverfest fireworks. Natalie had a blast riding bikes (and other vehicles with wheels) with Luke and some of the other kids. The fireworks were excellent there in West Branch!

 

Aug 5 ~ I sang with another eight person ensemble this morning in the chapel.  Once again, it was so nice to sing with a smaller group for a change.  A few of us were commenting on just that - how you get to really focus more on blending the voices and the dynamics, etc.  It is a whole different kind of energy.  Singing with the full choir is great, but so is this. I hope we get to keep doing some more of these smaller groups in the future. 

 

Aug 7 ~ Natalie, Katelyn, and I got to spend some time at the mall today. We started with story time at Barnes and Noble and then onto playtime at the play area. Ran into Eryn Durlam and also Barbara Willhoit at the play area. So Nattie got to play with Eliza Willhoit for a bit.

      Katelyn is really itching to start crawling soon!  She has this little stance where she pushes all the way up with both arms and has at least one knee out in front of her.  Then she reaches as far as she can for whatever object she is desiring.  Most times she can get herself back into sitting position from there - sometimes not. 

 

Aug 8 ~ Craig had golf and I had choir rehearsal tonight.  So the girls stayed with Heather in the nursery for a few hours. They really enjoy Heather - but being a college student, she is only around to help during the summer. She goes to college out of town - UNI. When I picked the girls up after choir, Kate had her hair pulled up into a sprout on the top of her head. Heather has done that the last couple times she has watched Kate - it is hilarious!

 

Aug 10 ~ Nat swam in our backyard pool again this afternoon. It may be one of the last times I fill up the pool for the year - she's just not that interested in it much anymore.  Plus it is starting to leak, I think.  Natalie has been real interested in fishing lately - not sure why.  She has never been fishing.  The other day at Walmart we passed by the area with the fishing equipment and she asked to get a fishing pole and to go fishing.  Tonight she was pretending she was fishing...and she says to us that "fish eat cake".  Sometimes she cracks me up!

 

Aug 11 ~ Choir sang this weekend in the auditorium.  Saturday night was a little hectic - we were a little short on time for rehearsing, but everything turned out fine.  We sang Forever, Everyday, Call Upon the Name of the Lord, O Lord Our Lord, It's All About Jesus, and For Who You Are.  It's All About Jesus is absolutely one of my all time favorite songs we sing in choir, but I also loved For Who You Are with lyrics like "Waiting here, patiently, just to hear Your still small voice again".

 

Aug 12 ~ So we all get to choir this morning and find out that our drummer broke his wrist last night and would not be able to play for services today. Wouldn't you know...John Carlson knows how to play drums, so he filled in for him.  Now of course with John on drums he couldn't also be on keyboard, but we already had a piano player up there anyway so it was doable. I had no idea that John could play drums - he truly is a jack of all trades in music...we are all so grateful that he is on the staff at Parkview!  As far as I could tell, the music went fine for Sunday.  At one point during It's All About Jesus, I looked over into the congregation and there was a young man standing tall and just worshipping the Lord with all he had. He was sort of in the middle of this sea of seated people probably not even aware at that point that he was the only one standing - it was neat to see.

     Natalie was acting goofy later in the afternoon.  I don't remember exactly what she was doing, but she stopped and exclaimed "God loves me when I'm funny!"  She also told us today that when her birthday comes this October she is going to change her name to "Madeline".  I asked her "Why would you do that? Don't you like your name?"  She said, "Yes, but only a little bit."  Silly girl.  I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but Kate has become a pro at clapping her hands!  She does it just out of the blue, or when you say in a sing-song voice "clap your hands", or when you say "yay!", or when she really likes a song that is being played or sung.

 

Aug 13 ~ Katie had two big firsts today!  She finally has her first tooth!...our kids are proving to be late teethers.  It's her middle bottom tooth on her right side. Katelyn also pulled herself up from sitting position today!  I had her sitting in the crib playing while I was putting away some laundry in her room...I turn around and there she was standing up in the crib holding on to the rail. My baby is getting so big!  Kate is only eight months old and I've already had to bring out the twelve and eighteen month clothes. She is now in a size four diaper. Where is the time going??  I was recently discussing with Craig just how fast Katelyn's first year is passing by...I can't believe she is already eight months old - she'll be a year old before we can even blink an eye!  But we think it is funny how it seems like it is taking forever for Natalie to pass her third year and reach age four. It's all the same year right?  We think that maybe it has to do with the fact that Nat won't be allowed to start kindergarten for another two years - she just seems so much older than three sometimes.

     During naptime today I was calling Brigit to come inside from our backyard. I found that she was busy chasing down a toad in our yard. Brigit was all excited...panting and foaming at the mouth. Before I could make my way down the deck steps to the patio, she had the toad in her mouth and then she dropped it onto the patio.  I decided to put it in a bucket with a little water and leave it in the shade so the girls could see it later. Nat was really excited to see the toad after nap - she wasn't interested in touching it, so we dumped it back onto the patio and watched it hop away.

 

Aug 14 ~ Craig spent the afternoon at a Cedar Rapids Kernals baseball game. He went on the outing with his team (OSA) and another team (ePEN) from work. He had a good time and came home with a souvenir for Natalie - a foul ball from the game!

 

Aug 15 ~ I've had to miss the past two Bible study Wednesdays due to issues with Katelyn's sleeping schedule and teething troubles. Next week is the last session, but I'll be missing that one as well because I'll be taking a trip to Illinois.  I do plan to get through the rest of Bible study on my own at some point.  It's a great study.

     Finally was able to get my crown replaced at the dentist this afternoon - see July 26th entry for more clarification :)  This time, Craig brought the girls over to the mall play area while I was at my appointment. I met them over there when I was finished, and Craig and I watched Natalie run around all over the place.  Our daughter is high energy!  We all shared some pretzels before the girls and I drove home and Craig returned to work.

 

Aug 16 ~ Coral Ridge Mall did a thing this summer where they played some family movies at their theatre on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 am - for a very low ticket price you got to watch the show and have free popcorn.  Most of the movies played were still a little too mature for Natalie to be watching yet. But she loves the Shrek movies, so I took her to the last movie they played today - Shrek the Third.  I took Katelyn over to the Lashmit's house so Jill could watch her while she played with her little friend, Abraham. So Nattie and I had some mother/daughter time together and it was so nice...we should do it more often!

     We met Craig at the mall in the evening for dinner and so that I could help pick out cellphones. We both got new phones - this one is my first.  Yes, I am now caught up with the rest of the moms out there - I have my own cellphone!  I never thought I really needed one before, but now with Natalie going back to preschool I'd just feel better if there was a quick way to reach me wherever I may be.

 

Aug 17 ~ Well, I was supposed to finish packing up this morning and be off to Illinois for a week with Natalie and Katelyn.  Instead, the morning started with me not being able to barely walk due to some severe pain in my lower back and right leg.  I could hardly sit, walk, or even lift Kate out of her highchair without wanting to cry.  I had felt myself pull my back out two days ago when I had lifted Kate from the floor without bending my knees (not smart, I know).  But I had done something similar to that a few months ago and it resolved itself within a few days.  So that is why I didn't go see someone about it sooner - I thought it would go away.  But it actually got worse and now involved my leg as well.  So I went over to the doctor where they prescribed me three different kinds of drugs.  Then they sent me to a physical therapist in the afternoon. The therapist thought that basically my muscles and joints had just gotten squashed all out of place.  So he did a few exercises with me and had me do this ultrasound heat treatment thing on my back. Didn't know what I was going to do about my trip to Illinois - the doctor didn't really approve of me driving in a car - not just because of my back but also because of the drugs I was taking.

     By mid-afternoon I was feeling a little better and the medication wasn't making me too tired.  So Craig helped me pack up the car and I went on ahead to Illinois with the girls.  Craig's parents decided to meet me halfway in Galesburg so that one of them could take over driving for me.  I thought it was silly and that I didn't need it, but in the end I was glad they did that...even though I had only taken two of the three medications prescribed, I was starting to feel groggy. 

 

Aug 18 ~ The original plan for today was that my friend, Sara, was going to whisk me off to Chicago so we could do some girly things like shopping and chatting in restaurants.  Well, with my back still bothering me I had decided that may not be such a great idea. But I still wanted to see Sara and she still wanted to see me, so we opted to just stay in town to do our girly things.  We went shopping and then had dinner at Olive Garden. I enjoyed our time together, but wished I didn't have to rely on those drugs because they were keeping me in a fog. 

     Natalie and Katelyn had a wonderful time with their Grandma and Grandpa Essington while Mommy was out with her friend. They played with lots of toys with Grandpa. Natalie recently found out that her Grandma Essington used to twirl baton. So Grandma dug out her old baton and showed Nat how to use it.  Natalie thought that was just so cool :)

 

Aug 19 ~ We all went to church over at Calvary Baptist this morning. Nat and Kate did very well in their nursery rooms. After church we all had a big lunch over at Mom and Dad Essington's house. Then it was time for the girls to have a short nap.

     In the early evening, the girls and I went over to the Shepherd's house to visit with my mom's side of the family and have dinner. It was Aunt Diana, Uncle Mark, Grandma and Grandpa Fleming, cousins Tara and Amber, and Uncle Jerry with his girlfriend Michelle. Both Natalie and Katie were a little shy at first, but it didn't take them long to warm up to everyone.  Natalie received a dry erase board and marker set from her great grandparents - she is in love with that thing!  I just realized over the weekend that Natalie can now draw stick people...I don't know when she started doing that, but I'm in amazement. She draws them with big huge heads and includes the eyes, nose, mouth and sometimes little circles for cheeks and a chin. Sometimes they have hair, but usually not.  Then of course they have stick arms and legs with solid round hands and feet.  And if she's feeling super creative she'll even draw them with a belly and belly button!  I also noticed over the weekend that her coloring skills have gotten more refined as well - she tries hard to stay in the lines and uses different colors for different items. 

   

Aug 20 ~ Natalie, Katelyn and I drove over to Lexington to spend a few hours at the Emberton's house. Natalie had been looking forward to playing with Corrin and Tyler for a long time. I got to chat with Sara while Kate kept herself pretty occupied with all the "new" toys at Sara's house. We left Sara's house with a Little Tikes rocking horse that is no longer played with by her children...Katie loves hanging on tight and going "rockity rock"!  Soon it was nap time, so we headed back to Bloomington/Normal. Spent a nice quiet evening at Mom and Dad Essington's house. 

 

Aug 21 ~ Natalie and I were able to spend a few hours alone together today. Katie spent time with her Grandpa Essington. We started off at Eastland Mall. We stopped at Gloria Jeans - mom had a coffee, Nattie and a fruit smoothie, and we shared a cookie.  Then Natalie got to ride the carousel.  After that we strolled around for awhile and found ourselves in Claire's looking at a bunch of fun glittery things. We ran across a small plastic baton-type toy that was pink and shiny with silvery streamers coming out of both ends.  Of course we had to have it :)  After the mall we decided to go over to Miller Park Zoo.  Nat loved the meerkats, the otters, the birds (when they kept their distance), and the turtles.  Was not too fond of the wallabies, big monkeys, or bears.  It started to get really hot, so we headed back for lunch and nap.

 

Aug 22 ~ Grandma Essington left work early so that she could come spend some time with Natalie and me.  We had lunch in downtown Normal at the new deli they have over at the Garlic Press shop.  After that we spent some time at the Children's Museum. Natalie painted a green tree in the painting area. 

     After a short nap, the girls and I met my dad at TGIFridays for dinner.  His girlfriend, Deanna, and her daughter, Caroline, also joined us. I had a good time catching up with my dad, but Natalie was super super shy.  Katelyn usually falls asleep very early in the night (usually around 6pm), so I decided not to bring her with us to the restaurant.  I felt bad that my dad didn't get to see her, but I know she would have been very tired and fussy.  Dad walked Nattie and me out to our van after dinner...he picked a pretty orange flower for Nat - that won her over.  She was all smiles after that!  It was still early when we finished dinner, so Natalie and I drove over to Petco to look at the animals and get some treats for the dogs...we were going to be leaving our dogs with Mom and Dad Essington and going on a short family vacation the following week. Natalie saw some ferrets for the first time - there were two of them at the store tumbling around. She loved the birds there - she adores birds as long as they are not the huge birds with long legs such as flamingos, etc. We finished the night by stopping at the new Carl's icecream shop over by Grandma and Grandpa's house. We sat inside and both had cones with sprinkles.  It was so strange being there...it used to be a National City bank branch...the very first bank job I ever worked was in that building.  A lot of the building still looks familiar to me - inside and out.

   I finished reading a really terrific book while we were away for the week. It is called Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson. A lady from Bible study, Ruth Baumgartner, suggested it to me and let me borrow her copy. It is a fantastic book explaining what a Godly marriage should look like. There was a review of this book on the Barnes and Noble website that was worded in the way that I felt when I read this book so I thought I'd copy it here : "Incredibly concise and candid - a powerful work! Until now I haven't left feedback for any book, however I was compelled to after reading this one. This is the best explanation of a biblical marriage that I have ever read. There is no longer a need for the many other books on marriage that are on my bookshelf. Two words express what this book is - GOD HONORING. This author is clearly in tune with the plight of many Christian homes. This book helped me to see the devastating effect of selfishness in the marriage relationship. I am guilty on all counts! I am now motivated more than ever to bring glory to God through my marriage - you will be too!"  As I said I borrowed this book, but am seriously thinking of getting a copy just because I know it will be a resource I'll want to pick up and re-read again. Craig is hoping to read the book at some point as well. And it is a short book - only 144 pages, but it explains a lot.  I think it's a great book for couples in all stages of marriage - whether they are just entering marriage, 10 years into it, or 40 years into it. 

 

Aug 23 ~ Dad Essington loaded the van up for me so the girls and I could head back to Iowa. It was a nice relaxing time in Illinois!  About halfway home we all needed to take a break and get some lunch. So we stopped at a mall in Galesburg - thought we could walk around for a bit and grab a bite to eat. First of all, this particular mall didn't have much choice when it came to food...there was one nice restaurant and an Orange Julius and that was it. Second of all, the majority of the people in the mall seemed a bit on the shady side (is that bad to say?).  Especially when I overheard the lady working at the Orange Julius tell one of the customers about how she was shot at the night before while standing on her front porch...both the Orange Julius lady and the customer had a chuckle about this...I didn't see the humor in it.  Anyway...the girls and I used the restroom and walked around a bit. Then I decided we'd just find a table at the nice sit down restaurant and share a plate for lunch. We sit down and the waiter brings our drinks...then Katelyn decides to start sobbing uncontrollably and Natalie decides to start acting up as well.  I was in no mood to allow that behavior in the restaurant...so I apologized to the waiter and asked for our bill so we could leave.  Basically I ended up paying for two over-priced drinks that we didn't even get to enjoy. I told the girls we would just get back on the road and find a drive-thru on the way home. We get to the big doors leading out of the mall and find that it is pouring down rain and the wind was just terrible. Nobody was leaving that mall at the time.  So I turned the stroller back around and accepted the fact that we'd be having pretzels and rootbeer for lunch while waiting out the storm. While waiting in line at the Orange Julius, the power in the whole mall went out - and I mean pitch black. I couldn't even see my kids in front of me - a little scary when you are in an unfamiliar place. Even though they were both seated in the stroller, I grabbed ahold of each of their hands until the lights came back on (it was only like 60 seconds or so).  The storm was over within half an hour, so we dashed out to the car before it could rain again. Took awhile for us to finally make our way out of Galesburg and back to the interstate...there were large tree limbs and debris all over the roads, lots of emergency vehicles trying to get through the streets, some flooding, and many of the street lights were out.  But we made it home and we were glad!

 

Aug 24 ~ Craig's brother came out from Chicago to visit for the weekend!  He arrived later in the evening on Friday. Natalie was so happy to see him - she had been looking forward to it for so long. Katelyn was already asleep, but did wake up for awhile - her sleeping schedule has been way off since our trip to Illinois. I think Katie was quite confused to see someone new at her house in the middle of the night - she showed her big pouty lip and scrunchy face and cried. But soon she was fine with Uncle Michael.  After dinner, Natalie had Mike playing blocks and dollhouse with her...it was great.

 

Aug 25 ~ Craig and Mike were supposed to play together today in the annual Pearson golf tournament. But we have had a lot of rain lately, so they are going to reschedule the tournament for another weekend. Despite the threat of wet ground, Craig and Mike played golf on their own in the afternoon anyway. The girls and I spent part of our afternoon in Iowa City. We ate lunch at Old Capitol Mall and then played in the fountain at the ped mall. We cut our afternoon fun a little short after Natalie tripped at the playground and skinned her knee. After golf, Craig and Michael came back to the house and we all went out to Red Lobster for dinner.  It has been challenging going out for evening meals when Katelyn likes to go to bed early - we never know how much of a risk we are taking on any given night :)  Thankfully, tonight was a good night. After dinner we drove around the downtown and campus areas of Iowa City - the students are back!  Then we stopped for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and also picked up a couple of videos to watch at home. 

 

Aug 26 ~ Michael had to take off after breakfast to return his rental car and do some studying back in Chicago. Natalie was so crushed to see her "My Michael" leave. 

     Our family will not be taking our planned trip to St. Louis this week. Craig had let me know a few days ago that his boss really needed him to stick around this week to tie up some loose ends on a project. We are hoping to make the trip sometime in mid to late September. I was very angry and disappointed when I first heard of the change in plans (I think we all were), but have cooled off and am fine with it now.  I am just praying that we have good weather and a good time when we go in September.

 

Aug 27 ~ Who knew that a three year old girl could get so embarrassed?  For some reason I thought that embarrassment didn't really exist for kids until at least a few years later. Tonight at dinner Natalie busted out into a rendition of Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys. Craig shot this look at her from across the table - it was mostly just a look of shock that she even knew that song...it was funny - you had to be there!  He wasn't as shocked when I told him that Grandpa Essington taught her that song.  Natalie got very embarrassed...the drama queen in her came out...crying and saying "Don't look at me like that!".  I felt bad for her, but at the same time it was really amusing and I could barely keep from laughing out loud. Of course trying to explain to her that we weren't laughing at her singing but at her choice of song didn't really sink too well into her young mind. It was all good dinner entertainment.

     Natalie's really been into playing games the past few evenings. On Saturday night she played Don't Break the Ice with her Uncle Mike, on Sunday she played Candyland with her Daddy, and tonight it was Hi-Ho Cherry-O with both me and Craig. She is really catching on to the concepts of turn taking and rules and such.

 

Aug 28 ~ Natalie attended Eliza Willhoit's fourth birthday party this afternoon.  The theme was Hello Kitty which Nat loves. Nattie said she had a ton of fun...they played toys (there were probably 10 or 12 kids there), had pizza for lunch, colored, had cupcakes, and got their faces painted like kitty cats with black noses and whiskers.  Nat was excited to see two other familiar girlfriends there - Meghan and Hannah. All the moms were welcome to either stay or just drop their children off for the party.  Most of us stayed and talked for the first half hour and then left for the next hour and a half. Kate and I strolled around the mall for awhile...we scoped out the Halloween costumes for ideas (can you believe they are on the rack already?), purchased a new outfit for Katelyn (I may wait and give it to her as a birthday gift), and just got some exercise.

 

 

 

What is new with the girls?? Since I took so long to catch up on the past month of journal writing, I'll just run down a list describing what is new with Natalie and Katelyn!

 

~ Her memory of books and songs is just so cool..she is always singing or reading out loud...when she doesn't know the words she just makes them up.

~ Pretend play is still huge with her...she plays house and school a lot with her dolls and stuffed animals.

~ She loves to help with Katelyn and the dogs. She helps find Kate's pacifier and sometimes helps mom put Kate's dirty clothes and diapers where they belong. She likes to let the dogs in and out to go potty and also help fill their food dish.

~ She is all about "doing it myself" now!  She likes to pick out her own pajamas, get herself dressed, wash herself, and brush her own teeth and hair. Sometimes it becomes a battle when I have to remind her that she still needs help with washing and brushing.  She has improved a lot when it comes to working buttons and zippers and even belts.

~ She feels like she has to be a part of every conversation surrounding her.  We are learning patience and how not to interrupt.

~ She typically does not like to ride in the car for too long...she used to love long rides, but now it's "I can't sit here anymore!"

~ She is usually very shy at first with new people, but quickly warms up and is very outgoing. 

~ She is a master at ignoring people...even her Mom and Dad. I've had to tell her that it is not polite to ignore people - that she may say "I don't feel like talking right now", but that she is not to ignore people.

~ We are lucky in that most days she will still take a good nap or at least read quietly in her bed for an hour or so. 

~ As I've mentioned before...she is potty trained!  It happened just like the doctor assured us it would - in Natalie's own time and on her own terms. I am proud to say that she has only had maybe two accidents in the past few months.

~ She asks "Why?" constantly - "....but why?, but why?, but why?" I most always supply her with an answer, but on occasion the answer boils down to "Because that is just the way it is.  Because Mommy said so."

~ She always asks "Where are we going today?"...always has to be on the go.

~ The new phrase lately has been "O-o-oh Mom" when she doesn't like what I've just asked her to do. 

~ Natalie loves butterflies, fireflies, airplanes, windmills, water towers, the moon, the sunset, and big decorative water fountains.

~ Nat always seems to have a bruise or a band aid...I probably hear her exclaim "Ow!" at least three times a day :)

~ Loves coloring and drawing with crayons, markers, colored pencils, chalk, paint...you name it!  Likes to make stick people, trees, suns, and rainbows.

~ Her favorite books right now are probably Bunny My Honey, the I Love You Treasury, and the Joan Walsh Anglund Storybook.

~ Nat says she wants to have a guinea pig as a pet and ride a roller coaster when she grows up.

~ Chewing gum is her latest passion...so gum has now become her "reward" for good behavior.

~ Nat was having some discipline issues recently...time outs and spankings were just not working. What we've found that does work (at least right now) is sending her to her room to think about what she's done wrong and for her to wait there for her spanking. The "waiting" part is very effective...it is worse to her than the actual spanking. Then after the spanking we get to have kisses and hugs and all that good stuff.

~ Many times Natalie is just so wound up that she has trouble settling down to listen to directions.  So you really have to make it a point to establish eye contact with her before speaking.  I've also started to have her repeat back to me what I've just said so that I know she heard me.

~ She is showing interest in writing the letters of the alphabet...she tries hard to make "N"(she writes it backwards), "O", "t", and "x".

 

~ Likes to sleep on her side or tummy a lot...sometimes when she cries in the middle of sleeping, all it takes to quiet her is to help her change her position.

~ Loves those puffy little Gerber baby snacks!  Knows what "snack" means and will smile and open her mouth up like a tiny bird.

~ Loves, loves, loves her baby fruit but does not like veggies much...especially green ones. Sometimes she'll gag or spit it out. Doesn't like her baby cereal by itself anymore.  I have to mix it with the fruit or veggie.

~ She understands "no pull" when it comes to hair, the window blinds in the kitchen, or the dogs' ears.

~ Natalie can make her laugh like no one else can!  I love that!

~ She has a hard time with teething (so did Nat, but I think Kate is worse). She drools quite a bit and chews on everything in sight. 

~ She does this sideways head-cocked "I see you" look when you hide around the corner from her.

~ She is starting to like books a little. Right now she likes two board books...one called Kitten Games - she squeals at the pictures of kitties and babies...the other is Five Silly Monkeys.

~ She loves watching her Baby Faith video series and anything with Elmo.

~ Sometime during this past month she started saying "MaMa" and "Mom"!!  Her second word is "DaDa"...you don't hear it a lot yet but she does say it.  She tries to say "meow" for what a kitty says but it only comes out as a mean sounding "Ah".  All other objects get a generic "buh", "bah", or "puh" sound from Katelyn!

~ She loves yellow duck toys! 

~ You know for sure she is ready for bed when she snuggles her head into the crook of your neck as you carry her up the stairs.

~ She enjoys it when Mommy sings Twinkle Twinkle, Little Bunny Foo Foo, or almost any song from church choir.

~ Kate is starting to crawl!  She does this sort of variation of an army crawl.  She'll pull herself forward with just her hands or push herself off with her toes. She is getting pretty fast at it, too.

~ I always hear the comment that she looks like the Gerber Baby.  I'm going to have to glue a picture of the Gerber Baby into her baby book as a reminder of this time in her life.

~ We are getting her acquainted with the sippy cup...she does manage to get a few sips in throughout the day.

~ I seriously think she can tell Natalie's scream apart from any other child's scream!  Sometimes they communicate across the room by screaming :)

~ She has become friends with the "baby in the dishwasher"...her reflection when she is sitting in front of the dishwasher.

~ Sometimes when you say "no" she looks over and gives that sly disobedient grin!

~ She likes to rip up magazines for fun.

 

 

Aug 29 ~ Katelyn can now get herself from a lying down position to a sitting position...and then occasionally a standing position!  I guess it is time to lower the crib mattress a notch so she doesn't hurt herself :) 

 

Aug 30 ~ Tonight was open house/ parent orientation night over at Parkview Christian Preschool.  Natalie was able to meet her teacher, Mrs. Meigen Fink, and the lady who will be the main aide in her classroom, Mrs. Carolyn deMatta.  There are also many other wonderful teachers and aides there who help throughout the day with different activities. We got to see Natalie's main classroom, her cubby for her papers, and the hook for her bag and coat...all important things for preschool, you know!  There was some time set aside for ice cream and socializing out over by the playground.  Natalie knows quite a few children who will be attending preschool at Parkview, though I don't believe any of them are in her particular classroom during the day...they are all kind of spread out.  So hopefully she will make some new friends. Some people who were there tonight with their kids and families: Angela Wildes, Jill Brown, Molly Rechkemmer, Beth Cullen and Heather Pentico.  The kids gathered to watch a movie and color while the parents had orientation in the chapel.