22 months

Kate is 22 months today! I thought I would post something because Parker keeps telling me once she turns 2 we stop counting by the months. I will say this age is really fun and hard at the same time. She is getting more and more independent which I love, but with that comes more opinions and meltdowns/tantrums when things don't go her way. But let's start with the fun things Kate is doing right now...

• repeating everything and talking non-stop at home. The other night we were singing "Jesus Loves Me" and she (without prompting) finished the last line, "the Bible tells me so"
• can count to 10 but ALWAYS skips number 5
• knows her shapes...and when she sees a stop sign says "ock-to-gawn"
• when asked what color something is, she almost always says "purple"
• loves Abby, Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, and the other Sesame Street characters
• she says, "Momma/Daddy sit" when she wants us to watch her play with her toys
• she LOVES Bailey and wants her to "sit" too
• she knows that before we go anywhere she has to get her shoes and bow

The hardest thing about this time...

• Kate does not like being in the shopping cart or the stroller which means there is usually a "tantrum" at some point during an outing...

Our 22 month old... At the wedding on Saturday night, one of my mom's friend's (the pastor's wife) told us a "trick" they learned on their Mexico Mission trip to get people to smile...instead of "say cheese" have them say "whiskey." So this morning I tried it with Kate...

Whiskey... Look at these big smiles! Thanks Tracy for the tip. And if you hear Kate saying "Whiskey" now you know why!!!

Gunn Wedding

Saturday night I went to a wedding in Tyler. The Gunns have been long time family friends and are one of my favorite families. They moved to Shreveport just before I started 7th grade. Frank was my youth minister from 7th-12th grade. He also married Parker and me. His wife, Lydia, discipled me for 4 years in High School. And, I babysat all three of their children when I lived in Shreveport. So many of my memories include this family...from camps, choir tours, etc. We always try to see them when we are in town.

Well, their oldest daughter, Mary Lindsay, got married Saturday night in Tyler. I wouldn't have missed it. She's always wanted a garden wedding, so she got married outside at a "Villa." It was beautiful. Here are a few wedding pics...but they don't really do it justice. And since it was an outside wedding in Texas in July AND I have my own little internal heater right now (being 7 months pregnant!)....let's just say I was a little warm (my excuse for looking really sweaty in these pictures...)

Frank walking Mary Lindsay down the aisle...

And Frank also performed the wedding. He did an amazing job...

Annalise, maid of honor, and Lydia, matron of honor...

Shreveport friends...Jennifer and my former music minister, Mr. Wierick...

me, Lydia and my mom...

me, Mary Lindsay and Slater...

Congrats Mary Lindsay!!! We are so excited for you guys!

Bye Bye Macie

Our good friends Matt and Kendra are moving to WISCONSIN! What??? Matt got a new job in Wisconsin so in less than 2 weeks they are leaving us. They have a little girl, Macie, who Kate loves. They are in the same Bible Fellowship class at church and Macie is how we get Kate in the door with no tears most Sundays. We are so sad they are moving...

We had one last playdate this morning at Jack Carter pool with Macie and one of Kate's other good buds, Pierce. I heart Jack Carter pool. It is one of the only pools I enjoy taking Kate to. It is perfect for her age...totally fenced in, no more than 2 ft. deep and there is so much for her to do. She can run and splash all over the place.

Here is a picture of the pool...it has 2 slides...a red one, which Kate has done a few times, and then this "big blue slide."

Guess who is going down the big blue slide now???? Pierce! What a big boy. He is 6 weeks younger than Kate and loves the big blue slide.

And since he went down, SO DID KATE!!!! I was at the top with her so I didn't get any pictures, but I think Joanna might have gotten one. If so, I will post it later.

The last 2 times we've come to this pool, all Kate has wanted to do is go up and down these stairs. It is quite the popular place for all these little ones...

But today she was more interested in playing in the water. She splashed and jumped and sat and crawled for an hour! It was the best she has ever played at the pool. It was so fun to watch her have so much fun!

She loves turning these wheels. When you turn them, water sprays out everywhere.

Sweet Macie, who Kate is going to miss...

And Kate's favorite part of swimming...the SNACK BREAK!

What a fun playdate. We are going to miss the Halls so much!

Detangler

Kate's hair gets a little tangled when she sleeps so we have to put detangler in it every morning and then again after her nap. She hates me trying to get the tangles out. This morning after I combed her hair out, I guess she thought it was time for her to get someone else's tangles out. Her "person" of choice...Bailey. She followed Bailey around the house for at least 45 minutes this morning spraying her with detangler (good thing she can't push it down hard enough for any to come out), and then combing and brushing Bailey's hair, just like we do to Kate.

Kate "spraying" the detangler... Bailey is tolerating...

Taking advantage of a still Bailey while she was eating her breakfast...

After about 45 minutes, I promise Bailey looked at me like, How long are you going to let her do this??? We left the house to go swimming and as soon as we came home, Kate ran and got the detangler, comb and brush and found Bailey...

At this point, I think Bailey just gave up...

She laid on the floor patiently and let Kate spray...
then comb...

then brush...

And then repeat.

Bailey really is the best dog ever!!!

"Puh-zules"

In the past month or so, Kate has developed a love for "puh-zules." They used to frustrate her but now she loves them. We do the same ones over and over everyday. I love her look of satisfaction when she does it all by herself. Here are some pictures of her working her favorite puzzles...

I love it when she lays on her tummy to do them...soooo cute!

Getting a little confident...putting two pieces in at once...

The Burns'

Our good friends Michael and Jessica came in town on Saturday with their daughter Olivia. Olivia and Kate are 3 days apart. We had so much fun hanging out with them.



Kate and Olivia both love Elmo and Abby. We just bought Kate an Elmo "movie" and it was a big hit with both girls.

College Roommates with their girls...

me and Jess...she is due Sept. 8 with a baby boy!

The Chip...

This afternoon I was standing in the kitchen making a list to run to the store. Kate came in with one of our decorative pillows from the couch and said, "pillow, sit." I turned to watch her sit on the pillow and out of nowhere...I am still not sure what happened...she face planted into the tile. She came up SCREAMING. As I picked her up, there was blood in her mouth. Of course, my stomach dropped. She was super upset and I couldn't tell what was bleeding...her lip, tongue, gums, etc. She finally calmed down and I saw she had chipped her front tooth, and maybe both of them. She never would let me get a good look at them or feel it, although I can tell the jagged edge is really sharp. Other than rubbing her tongue over the teeth, she acted fine tonight. Thankfully, Parker's mom was a dental hygienist and she talked me through things to look for in the next few days. I am hoping it ends up being just a small chip in a baby tooth that is no big deal.

I took some pictures of the chip to send to Parker's mom so I thought I would post them...

I was so close with the flash, this one looks like a 3D/4D sonogram picture...and that is a toothbrush in her mouth.

Bye-Bye Colin

Our good friends Kelly, Roger, and their son, Colin, are moving to Ft. Worth this weekend. We are so sad they are leaving Plano but glad they will still be somewhat close. Colin and Kate are 2 weeks apart and have "played" together since they were born. We got together for one last playdate before they move...at Chick-fil-A, of course.

Playdate buds...Anna, Kate, Harper and Colin...

Colin is probably really hoping to make some "guy" friends in Ft. Worth, he is really outnumbered here.

We are going to miss you guys!!!

4th of July in Houston

We spent our July 4th weekend with Parker's family in Houston. We had a great time hanging out with all the Hamiltons. Parker and Papa Lon took Kate to the neighborhood 4th of July parade, but didn't take the camera :(. We did manage to get a cute Red, White and Blue pic of Papa Lon, CC and the grandkids, Quinn and Kate.