Happy Birthday Uncle Mike!

I realize this is a day late but just didn't have time to download the video yesterday...but for those of you who know Kate, she doesn't talk much compared to other kids but just now has started saying more. So Happy Birthday Uncle Michael...we can finally say your name!

And after our first week in our new home Kate has adjusted fine. The only sad thing was when we went by the old house to get some mail and when i drove up and then drove off she started crying. I forget that the old house is still familiar to her and she thought we had just gotten home and now we were leaving again. But she hasn't skipped a beat. Lucy on the other hand needed a few days to calm down. But she is doing great now.

Our New Home

I have been asked to post a picture of our new house.....and here it is....

The Joys of Moving

For the few of you who read this blog and wonder where I am...here is what my days have looked like in the past week.

Wake up

Pack, Pack, Pack

Drive over to new house and unpack boxes

Put Kate down for a nap and work while she sleeps

Kate wakes up and plays with the neighborhood kids while I continue to work

Grab some dinner

Put Kate down to sleep and work some more

Jason has had the busiest month with work and traveling this May so it has been up to me to meet contractors/painters and oh yeah, pack our whole house! But things are going well, it is just really busy. Thanks to help of friends and family who have either helped watch Kate or helped pack boxes...I TRULY APPRECIATE YOU!

Here is a cute picture from the other day when my parents got on the trampoline to jump with Kate!

Child Labor

My good friend Ashley started her own business Ashley Macs and she makes the best food but her all time best is her strawberry cake. If you go to their Bluff Park or Cahaba Heights location they have samples you can try. Kate loves sampling the strawberry cake! The other day we were up there and saw Andy, Ashley's husband, who is a favorite of Kates. Most likely because he lets her have all the strawberry cake samples she wants! Kate took her sticky icing fingers and put them all over their windows and Andy was about to clean them when Kate asked if she could have the paper towel to clean. We would spray the window and then she would wipe it down. She kept saying "please" and "more" and kept cleaning. I tried to hire her out telling Andy and Ashley what clean windows they would have and that she could attract lots of clients into the store!!

Thirsty??

Kate had more fun yesterday playing in our sprinkler system and drinking the water. Needless to say she was drenched!

So I just stripped her down to her bloomers and let her keep having fun!

Latest Sewing Project

As I have said before, I always wanted to sew to be able to make things for my home. However, it took having a little girl to get me started. But now I am starting to get into sewing more for the home. I made curtains a few months back and now I have tried my hand at pillows. I decided to pipe them and I understood the concept but just had never piped anything. But I must say that I am very pleased how they turned out. I am excited to see them in our new house!!

I had no idea to do a zipper to close them so I just overlapped the back and put in buttons!

Destin, Florida

Kate and I just got back from a few days at the beach. My friend Lauren, who is 31 weeks pregnant, went down with us for a nice little girls trip. Lauren got a nice little glimpse into what her life is going to be like in a year chasing after a toddler!! Kate hadn't been to the beach since last summer and I wasn't sure how she would react to the ocean. She gripped my neck for dear life for over an hour and wanted nothing to do with the sand or the water. But after about an hour it was like someone flipped the switch and all of the sudden she was running around and rolling in the sand and I couldn't get her out of the water. Needless to say after three days at the beach I am glad to be home as I am exhausted. Kate took 3.5 hour naps everyday which was amazing!! And of course after only three days and 50 SPF sunscreen, Kate is nice and brown and I am still white!

Random Pictures

My friend Noelle burned me a cd of pictures that she had of Kate. Some of these are older pictures but I thought they were cute and wanted to share.

*looking through these pictures again, these are a great examples of how I wish my child would wear a bow in her hair!!!!

Loving LA

Some good friends of ours, Patrick and Noelle, are moving to LA this summer. So in good friendly fashion a few of us offered to go out there to help Noelle find a place to live! Kristen, Ashely, Noelle and I headed out to California in search of the perfect place for Noelle to live (and a great place for us to come visit also). We went as north as Malibu and as south as Laguna Beach. I am not sure what I was expecting on my first trip to the west coast but California is beautiful! We had the best time and experienced some great food. Ashley is in the food business and Noelle is an amazing cook and the one rule was we couldn't eat at a chain restaurant, not even for a snack. So with much research and diligence Ash and Noelle always found us great spots to eat. One of the highlights of our trip was our car we got to drive. First let me say that we are all now minivan fans because we got to drive around in a Mercedes Minivan. It was a sweet ride and looked nothing like a minivan! We all came home asking our husbands for new cars!

I am so thankful for these girls. We all met because of our LIFE group at church and some of the most meaningful and lasting friendships have been made between us. Finally, here are some pictures of our trip. And as Jason would say, get ready for four girls smiling in all the pictures with different backgrounds!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

ps. we have been busy...if you haven't been keeping up, then keep scrolling for more new posts!

Halleluiah...We Serve a Risen Savior!

Where do I even begin to express thankfulness that we serve a Risen Savior. And oh, how I need to be reminded each day of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. We had a wonderful Easter yesterday and got to experience an awesome worship time at church!

And of course I had to make Kate's Easter dress. This was my second real go at heirloom sewing and I have decided after this dress that I may not make too many more. It can be very expensive and very time consuming. And it doesn't help when I hold the dress up to Jason and he says "very pretty" and then goes back to watching golf. I was like, "did you not take time to see the vertical lace insertion, or the pin tucks, or hand embroidery? How about the gathered lace attached to entredeaux or the gathered sleeves?" I think I just have to realize that he may never appreciate any of that! Yesterday afternoon we did a little Easter egg hunt with Kate and she was so proud of herself when she would find and egg and put it in the basket!

What a difference a year makes!