My Little Shopper

My mom took these pictures of Kate and I thought they were cute...

My little shopper...purse and all...


Stopping to wipe the baby's nose...

Karen, Kate, Emma and me...

Texas Bluebonnets

Karen and I took the girls to a Bluebonnet field today to get some pics. They were both so enthralled by the bluebonnets that they wouldn't look up at the camera...(or maybe it was just REALLY bright outside). Here are some of our pics from this morning...

Emma...

Kate...

JuJu, Kate and Emma...

JuJu and Kate...

As soon as Karen took Emma out of the Bumbo, Kate decided it was her turn...

Smelling the flowers...

Walking back to the car...

Purse

I've mentioned before that Kate has a Fisher Price purse that she loves...it came with lipstick, money, keys, a bracelet and a mirror. Well, the other day she found one of my smaller purses in our closet and she has been carrying it around for a few days now.

Here she is with both purses...
She had to put the pink one down so she could eat her snack...

Kate's new purse she is carrying around everywhere...

We walked to the store this afternoon and she wanted to take it with her...but I was to embarrassed for her to leave the house with it. I need to find a different small purse for her to get attached to.

On another note, we have been having trouble with Kate not wanting to get in her stroller or a shopping cart. She throws HUGE fits. Well, I had to go to the store today to get milk and some fruit for Kate. My great plan was to let Kate walk to Tom Thumb (about a 10 minute walk), put her in the shopping cart (b/c she would be tired from the walk), get the groceries, and then let her walk home. I brought some juice to bribe her into the shopping cart if I needed it. Well, the plan worked great...we walked to the store, she went straight into the cart (no juice needed), we got our groceries...including a gallon of milk, 2 lbs. of strawberries, 2 lbs. of grapes, bananas, etc. We were all ready to walk home and Kate refused. So yes, the plan backfired and I, being 14 1/2 weeks pregnant, carried all the groceries and my 29.5 lb sweet girl all the way home. To say that my arms were hurting would be a huge understatement!

The Zoo

If you know my sweet husband, you know there are a few things he is very opinionated about...and Kate's first trip to the zoo was one of those things. He let me know soon after Kate was born that he had strict rules about going to the zoo. 1. Kate had to be old enough to appreciate it. 2. The first trip had to be just the three of us. 3. We could only go in the spring or fall (due to HOT Texas summers). At first he was throwing out the age of 3 which I thought was a little ridiculous... Anyway, for my birthday (which was today...Happy Birthday to Me), we took our first family trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. I had to lower his expectations a little...but we were both so excited to take out little animal lover to the zoo.

We went to see the monkeys and gorillas first. If you have ever been to the Ft. Worth zoo, the big gorilla is inside. As soon as we walked through the doors to the exhibit, Kate gave Parker the "death grip." She was holding on to him so tight!

Look at the look on her face...

All the monkeys were sleeping when we walked through the first time...so we went outside to the other animals. This little meerkat was running around. Kate loved watching him.

The elephants were awesome! This one came all the way to the edge and ate off the branch right over our heads.

After a few animals, Kate got the hang of it and would go look through every fence. She was adorable...

Mommy and Kate with the giraffes...I think Giraffe skins are so pretty!

This white tiger was going crazy when we walked up. He would stand and paw at the window and then just pace back and forth...

Kate and Daddy looking at the lions. I wish they would have roared...

Kate and Daddy

Looking at all the birds...

This was the look of the day....big eyes and open mouth. She definitely was taking it all in.

We accidentally forgot to put the stroller in the car...oops. But it ended up being fine. Kate walked most of the time and did great!!!

Kate checking out the bronzed kangaroo...

Water break...

They just added this brand new exhibit...Museum of Living Art. It was basically just reptiles and amphibians. Most of the cages were right at Kate's eye level so it was perfect for her. Pointing at the HUGE Boa...(or "nake" as she called it).

The python's head is right at her left hand...

I HATE SNAKES but they really are fascinating...look at the python's head. YIKES!

Reaching for the turtle...

"vilsh"...(fish)

Another snake...for now, she is not afraid...

On our way out, we stopped to see the monkeys one more time. This monkey was awake and playing at the window...

Overall, Kate LOVED the zoo! It was worth the wait!!!

And what a great birthday to get to spend it with my 2 favorite people!!!

Thanks to my sweet husband for taking off a half day off work!!! You are the best!

PIGGIES!!!

Kate's 1st PIGGIES!!! (Pig Tails or as my dad calls them...dog ears)

I finally got Kate's hair in pigtails. Her hair in the front is still so short but the hair in the back is just long enough for cute little piggies. I took a few pictues right before she took her afternoon nap.

Disclaimer: I know the part in the back is not straight but it is the best I could do with Kate's 5 second window of patience of me pulling her hair!

18 month appt

We just got home from Kate's 18 month appt and to say she HATES g0ing to the doctor would be an understatement. Kate was so happy in the waiting room...then they called her name. As soon as we walked through the door to our room, she started whining and holding me tight. And then when I had to undress her, she absolutely lost it! She cries so hard that these red spots appear on her face...which the dr told me are broken blood vessels. It is terrible!!! She didn't want to be weighed or measured, much less have her ears looked in. The good news is she is perfectly healthy and there were no shots...the bad news...she had to get her finger pricked to test for anemia (which she is not)! Thank goodness we don't have to go back for 6 months. It is torture for both of us!

Kate was fascinated by the band-aid on her finger...she just kept staring at it...

Kate's 18 month stats...

Height: 33 1/3 inches (95%)

Weight: 29.4 pounds (95%)

Easter Basket and Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny came and brought Kate some fun goodies!!!
She LOVED her Easter basket and goodies!

Just for fun...here is Kate's 1st Easter pic!

The Easter Bunny also left some eggs in the backyard. So Kate had her 1st egg hunt...
Figuring out how to carry the basket...

Finding an egg!

Kate would pick it up...

Shake it to make sure there was candy inside...

Then turn to daddy for help opening it...

Getting the candy out...

Eating it...

And then off to another egg!

Oops...it is under my dress!

There's another one! Yes!!!

Once she figured egg hunting out, she loved it!!!

Look at that basket full of eggs!

She opened one on her own, but notice the jelly bean fell out...bummer.

Looking in her basket...

Opening another egg...

She found all the eggs! (This dress was my Easter dress when I was Kate's age. My grandmother, Mamma Moore smocked the Easter baskets across the front.)

Afterwards, we came inside and she sat on the kitchen floor and rechecked every egg to make sure she got all the candy out...

Look at my egg!

The candy is all gone...

Happy Easter!!!