The many faces of Kate

Kate is almost 20 months old now. She is at such a fun age. She makes my day with her crazy faces, and she makes them constantly. She is starting to throw some fits, but she is easily pacified with her easy going personality. I want to write all of these facts about her right now at this age before I forget...

Kate always wakes up happy. I could wake her up at 3 am and she would still have a smile on her face & be happy to see you.

As soon as she wakes up, she has to snuggle a little bit. I love my morning cuddles. She really has turned into quite the cuddle bug. She also gives pats when she hugs us & I love it!

Some of the things Kate does to be funny & make us laugh is make her scrunched up smile face & bat her eyelashes. She is an expert at blinking her eyes, and it's so funny!

She often says "Wu you" to us throughout the day. It is a good reminder to us all. But, I especially love it when someone sneezes because as soon as Kate hears it she yells "Wu you!" (instead of bless you)

Some of the things Kate loves are brushing teeth, Elmo, singing, baby dolls, playing with her sister (especially when she laughs at her), taking baths, getting her nails painted, wearing dresses, wearing shoes (even if they're her sister's), make-up, reading books to herself (she isn't patient enough to let me read them to her), drinking from a cup, and EATING!

Some of the things she says most are:
"Mama, mama, mama " (repeated until I answer)
"No, no, no" or "No!"
"ya"
"Bye, see ya"
"Wu you"
"don't like that"
"don't want it"
"cookie"
"bite?"
"oooohhh, it's a baby"

She loves to be outside. She loves to run, especially when she's outside. I love it when she tries to jump. She usually is successful in getting one foot off the ground and it's so fun to watch.

Kate really loves animals, especially "puppies." She calls every animal a puppy, but she loves them all. I have caught her outside petting bugs. She still loves to give dogs big kisses and hugs. She can't wait until we get our dog back...

I have often referred to her as my mountain climber. She loves to climb on everything. She has figured out how to pick up the stool and put it where she needs so she can climb higher. Just tonight I caught her sitting on the table eating butter. She accomplished this in under a minute while I was in the bathroom. She has no fear of climbing, but she is afraid of being thrown up in the air.

She is a sensitive little girl. If you tell her no, or raise your voice to her, she gets upset & starts bawling the saddest cry you ever heard. She does like to be defiant at times just to see if you meant what you said, but she really takes it to heart if you're upset with her.

I love my little Kater bug. I love how little she is. I love how fun she is. I love how she makes me laugh everyday, especially with her crazy faces. I love how I get a snuggle from her every single day. I can't imagine our lives without this sweet little girl in it!
We all "wu you" Kate!

My thoughts on true love...

What is true love? I have a few ideas...

True love is when someone will go to the store for you to get ANYTHING that you might possibly need, even if it's embarrassing....

True love is when someone will make a phone call for you that you don't really want to make to someone that you don't even know....

True love is when someone will drive as fast as possible to be by your side when you need them...

True love is when you can completely be yourself around someone and never feel embarrassed about it, even if you do something really embarrassing...

True love is asking an ob/gyn an embarrassing question because your wife doesn't want to...

True love is when someone brings you home your favorite treat when you've had a bad day, even if you're on a diet, and even if you didn't tell them you were having a bad day...

True love is cooking a meal or changing a poopy diaper when needed to without complaining...

True love is teaching your children how to treat their mother...

True love is holding your wife's hand through labor and delivery even if it's hard to watch...

True love is listening to your wife talk for hours on end about nothing and pretending to be interested even if you're not, and responding at the proper times even if you're really tired...

True love is kissing your wife good-bye every morning even if her hair is sticking up in all directions and she has terrible morning breathe...

I am lucky enough to have true love and a wonderful husband that would do anything for me...

Splash Pad!

Tyler called us and told us that there was a splash pad close to where he was. So, I finally went to Motherhood and got a suit (they were having a sale). We packed up lunch and met Tyler and Curtis there. I let the girls play for about an hour and a half before lunch.

This is Kate's face when we first got there. She loved it!

Alivia was so excited to finally be able to "swim"

Our little dancing queen

Kate was funny to watch. She was soaked first.

running...(please ignore the hefty lady on the left)

Liv was too busy to eat lunch, and Kate would grab food and then run through the water with it. She ate lots of soggy chips.

Tyler and Curtis had fun watching the girls during lunch. They had so much fun. It was such a hot (and humid) day that I was wiped out for a few days. Of course the kids weren't interested in napping or going to bed early after playing for 3 1/2 hours. They are ready to go back!

July 4th

I thought that the day was going to be a dud, but we ended up having fun. Church is from 2:00-5:00 which is really hard on the kids. After church (and Liv fell asleep in the truck) we went to a team barbeque. I got to meet the other team here in Portland. It's weird being the oldest people there. Most of the other people aren't married and we are the only ones with kids. They all tell us that they are jealous and want what we have.

Kate is crying because she wanted more watermelon haha!

It was funny being at a "singles" barbeque with kids. We kept them in the back yard so that they wouldn't make any big messes inside. They ran around the yard with different people. The funniest part was that the kids would just ask whoever for some food. People were giving them bites of food from their plates or making them plates of food. I couldn't even tell you what they actually ate because everyone was feeding them. (Good thing they don't have any food allergies). I would peek outside at them and somehow they would be sharing a plate of food that I didn't make for them. They were definitely spoiled!

Kate was covered in watermelon. She couldn't get enough.

Liv is sporting her glow-stick jewelry that Papa sent them. They loved them, and slept with them when we got home. We decided to go to the high school to watch the fireworks because it was close to our house and that's where everyone else was going.
Liv hates loud noises (still can't figure that one out because she is a loud girl). So, this is how she watched them. She did not want to leave when they were over.

Kate was mesmerized by them and didn't fuss at all at the loud noises.

There were SO MANY people there that we could hardly find somewhere to park. We just watched them from our truck because it was a few minutes into the show when we found somewhere to park. The show only lasted about 15 minutes and it was not very neat. We were sorely disappointed. I just can't believe so many people lined up for so long to watch a show like that. But, we enjoyed the show while it lasted. It took us a while to get home with all the traffic. We hoped the girls would fall asleep, but no such luck...

Smith Berry Barn

On Saturday July 3rd, we went to the Smith family berry barn. It was a really neat place, and we will for sure be going back. They had some animals and things for sale, and of course LOTS of berries to pick.

They had 2 different kinds of raspberries which were sweeter than the average raspberry. And Silvan blackberries which are a cross between a Marionberry and a boysenberry. (They were slightly tart and I loved them). Our family favorite was the Tayberry though which is a cross between a raspberry and a Scottish blackberry. They had just enough sweetness and tartness that we loved them.
It took the girls a little while to get the hang of picking them. And Kate kept squishing them before putting them into the bucket.
It took Kate a while to understand the concept. She enjoyed running around most of the time and it wasn't until the end that she started picking them with us. We just let her run because she was so happy.
I love how the girls talk to each other and cooperate. They have so much fun together.
Alivia definitely took charge of the day and insisted that we keep picking. She got to climb up bales of hay with other kids. She mostly carried around the bucket and was very serious about her job.


We ended up filling our bucket a little over halfway and it cost $3. Talk about a bargain. We made some berry syrup this week for our pancakes...yummy!


Everyone had sticky hands when we were done. When we looked at Kate we realized that she also had a very sticky face...

Fun with squirrels

Tyler took off Saturday July 3rd so we slept in and got ready for the day just in time to go outside and feed the squirrels. We heard that squirrels will eat peanuts right out of your hand because it's their favorite. It's true! We've never had them eat out of our hands before...

It was funny trying to explain to the girls that they had to be quiet so they wouldn't scare them away. They kept wanting to call them like dogs.
Kate did really well and wasn't scared at all. She loves animals, and whenever she sees one she yells "puppy!" Come to think of it, she yells most things she says haha!
Alivia loved feeding them, but then she was convinced that the squirrel bit her and wanted to eat her. She didn't even have a mark and we tried to explain to her that he was just trying to get the food out of her hand. It doesn't help that she got bit by a dog about a month ago. I wish it would have left a mark so I could have done something about it, because dogs that bite kids (that aren't provoking them) are not good dogs and should be kept away from kids.
It was a fun, relaxing morning and now the squirrels that hang around our trailer are fat & happy!

Ecofirst group pedicures

Because Tyler's job involves LOTS of walking. The incentive for June was pedicures if the group improved their percentages for the week. They all made it, so all nine of them went in for the deluxe pedicures which included massaging, painting, and even hot wax.

It was wonderfully relaxing. Tyler decided that because of some foot issues he has and because he loves me that I could have his pedicure. He is so sweet!

He watched the girls the entire time, but they were pretty good.

Livi really wanted to join in too, so they set up a movie for her. I couldn't believe that they had kids chairs there. Maybe I'll give her the option of a pedicure instead of a big birthday party...
Everyone's toes afterwards. Everyone got their toes painted "Ecofirst green" with a leaf or a flower painted on. It turned out pretty cute although I'm kind of glad my husband didn't end up with green toes...it's just not my thing.
Here's Curtis showing off his green toes. I still can't believe all the guys agreed to get their toes painted, but they had fun...
It turned out to be a pretty fun day, and I even gave the girls pedicures at home.