PeekaBOOO

Kate is developing a little personality these days. She loves playing Peekaboo which is a plus when I need her to smile at the camera. She has to touch everything she sees and tries to imitate any noise you make, for example, lip popping. It is so adorable. She also is SO done with her pack-n-play and screams anytime you are about to set her down in there. No prison for her anymore! Little stinker! She is getting cuter by the day, even though she is trying very hard to scar up her face. I am about to become a crazy woman cutting her nails because in the recent weeks she has put 2 scarlike scratches on her head. I am hoping that when her head gets bigger they will disappear under hair. Oh yeah, WHAT HAIR? I guess she is going to take like her momma and not get hair until she is like 3. My grandmother used to tell me, "Allison you are beautiful, you are really going to be something with teeth and hair!" I feel the same about my Kate.

Don and I spent Saturday cleaning out closets and getting stuff ready for a yard sale we are having in June. It feels good to unload a bunch of stuff.

Memorial Day, Kate, Petey and I went to Oak Mountain State Park with my parents and checked out the animal rehab area and then strolled passed the lake/pond where there were a ton of people swimming. Can I just say, that you will never catch me or Kate in that water. I mean there were like 200 people in a small amount of water. GROSS! Then we drove up the Peavine Falls. It was about the storm and it made the drive feel so good with the windows rolled down. Petey stepped in gum along the sidewalk then promptly stuck it to me. He had so much fun though and my dad kept commenting, "Allison, you have 2 children!" It's true! I got a plant when I turned 26, then Petey 1 month later, then a babe 1 year after that. They are all still alive! Yay! My parents came back to the house where I whipped up some Swiss Mushroom Burgers and then they headed home while Don came in from his long afternoon on the golf course.

This weekend, Kate, Petey and I are headed up to the lake. Don is either joining us Saturday or golfing. We are not sure yet. Then Sunday, after church, I am helping throw a shower for my very good friend Keri. She is having her first boy (after 2 little girls), June 30th. Yay for Mini-Cooper!

Girls Beach Trip...Woot!

Thursday morning Mamey arrived around 7am to pick me and Cup-Kate up. We loaded her car (busting at the seams) and then jumped on the interstate. We met up with my aunt and cousin (not mother and daughter) at the Alabaster Chick-flick and then made our way down to Destin. Mom and I found an awesome condo at Beachside I at the SanDestin resort. We went prepared in that we brought all of our groceries (or at least thought, I forgot diapers) with us. My aunt Julie and cousin Rachel were cooking one night Shepperd's Pie and breakfast the next morning. I was cooking Shrimp and Artichoke Bake one night and mom cooking orange rolls and bacon the next morning. The final night we were going out to eat. It worked out perfectly and everything was Scrumptious-Deely-uptious! I of course had to order some King Crab Legs when we went out. It was amazing except the fact that the bumps on this crab HURT. :) Anywho, mishaps/highlights of the extended weekend were...

1) I overflowed the toilet. Oh YES! From toilet paper, not from other. SO, I came running out of the guest bath I shared with mom the second morning screaming "THE TOILET IS OVERFLOWING!" Mom and Julie come running in and mom turns off the water as I am heaving suitcases on the twin beds. Yes, the water had made its way under the crack of the door into mom and I's bedroom. Don't worry, it didn't get on any of our luggage and we mopped it up. Ahhhhhh...why me?!?

2) The last night my Aunt Julie and Cousin Rachel decided they couldn't stand saying goodbye to the ocean so they were going to go back out there for a little bit around 11pm at night. They were sitting out on our patio. Our condo was ground floor so you could go out the back or front to leave the condo. My aunt Julie thought they should go out the back and through the pool area and then up the steps, down the ramp, and down the steps to get to the beach instead of going out the front door and skip all of pool and up steps part, so they wouldn't wake us up. Sweet of her but not good thinking on her part. First off, you couldn't lock the back door from outside. Someone could have stolen us!:) Secondly, the security guy locked the pool gates at night so in order for Julie and Rachel to go through the pool area they had to climb over a 4ft gate. No problem for Rachel, then Julie went. She came down on her knee wrong. Next thing you know, she is on her bottom and Rachel couldn't get her up. Julie sent Rachel to wake my mom out of a dead sleep. Mom got Julie up and then all three were locked inside the pool area. Mom found a way they might could get Julie out (remember she is hurt). Just as they were trying out the plan, the security guy shows up, doesn't ask one question, and frees them. Here is where I come in. I am sound to sleep in the deep sleep you get your first hour or so of sleep. I hear loud banging on the door. I look over to mom's bed. She is not there. I open the door, no questions or peeping. I see my aunt huffing and puffing with her arm around my mom's shoulder and I ask "What happened?" It was actually kinda funny the sight, like some kinda of flashback to Spring Break yet with your parents acting a fool.:)

3) Kate got her first Airbrush t-shirt (my aunt came up with the perfect saying but we had to leave it at that). You will probably catch a glimpse of it in summer lake pictures as that might be the only place she is allowed to wear it.

4) We dove into the waves OVER and OVER and OVER again. The water felt perfect. The sun felt glistening. The breeze was refreshing. MAY is the PERRRRRRRRfect time to go to the beach. Kate loved the water. She swam in the pool with her new float that has a canopy attached. She also dipped her feet several times when the waves came crashing in. She took naps midmorning under the beach umbrellas and let her mom play some. She loves the action and all the people. That's my girl!

Here are some pics:





Guess who is sitting up...

Used and Abused

We started off our wild weekend by throwing a ridiculous amount of stuff in the camry and heading to Albertville. Before we leave Don gets a call from his friend Chris (who is throwing a Surprise Graduation party for his wife Stacy) who says that his child's baseball game was called off in the 3rd inning due to rain that morning and they had reschedule it for that afternoon at 4pm. Chris had arranged some of Stacy's close friends to meet at Surin in Huntsville beginning at 5pm to surprise Stacy. So Don and I get to Albertville around 1:30pm. We hand over our daughter to her grandparents who oohhh and aahhh over her. Then at 3pm, Don informs me we (including the babe) need to jump back in the car because we are headed to Chris's child's ballgame before the party. I was confused at this point because Don never tells me anything and Chris was depending on us as an excuse to get Stacy out of the house for dinner (aka. party) that night. So we get to their house and Stacy is apologizing like crazy and telling us to please just watch a movie at their house and blow off the game. I really wasn't sure what to say to Stacy about what we were doing that night because I was still in the dark on what she knew. Anywho, after Chris blamed everything from the restaurant I wanted to eat at to the way Stacy needed to dress and the rush of baby Kate's needs on us, we made it to Surin in Huntsville and Stacy was indeed surprised. Yay! Here is a picture of the new grad and myself. Let me just say that I am so proud of her for this accomplishment. She finished up her schooling while taking care of her 4, I mean 3 kids. :) So we didn't make it back to Albertville until 10:30 that night and then I had to do a little work in Gladys' kitchen for the roast I was making for lunch the next day. It was a Paula Deen recipe. It was pretty good, just required alot more attention then most roast recipes and I woke everyone in the house up and put Don to work crushing beef bouillon and garlic cloves. So next morning we go to church then back to the Farmers' where 3 inside dogs were waiting on us. Also, Tab (Don's sister) and her husband Rob joined us, along with their children Ryan (3) and Reid (9 months). That house was definitely rocking. Here are a few pictures from that afternoon.

On the way back home we stopped by my parents. We seriously were all like zombies by this point. Mom kept asking me what was wrong. We left there and headed home around 7pm. Kate slept the whole way home and didn't wake up until 8am the next day. Petey slept the whole next day without budging much. Family and friends wear you out! So at about 9pm on Mother's Day I realized I didn't have one picture of me and Kate from my 1st Mother's Day so I made Don take a picture of us. She is completely zonked out in her carseat from the ride home. Overall, it was a good first Mother's Day. I will probably put in a request for next year's to be a little more relaxing. :)

Rounded up to 1 (7/12)!

Lets see, what has changed about Baby "Tate" since my last developmental update...Hmmmm...She has more hair! Yay, its coming in and it is definitely dark brown/black (okay that is not developmental). Mamey says there is not any bend to it like mine had so as of right now we are not sure if she will have curly hair. Don's hair is thick (as is mine) so hers should be thick. She has become much more interactive. Mamey swears up and down that Kate participated in Patty Cake the other night by doing the "Rolling Up" part with her hands. I didn't see it so I can't say if Mamey is delusional or not. Kate tries to bounce in your lap if you are holding her thanks to her finally getting the swing of her Baby Einstein Entertainer. We hope to purchase her a door bouncer this weekend. Still no teeth but I think that is coming soon. She is taking 2 bottles of level 1 food in the morning and 2 bottles around 5pm. She loves food!

Kate loves - strolling around the block, watching Petey chase the ball in the house, kisses from Petey, apples, pears, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, her sunshine teether on her entertainer, anything she can stick in her mouth nicely, her beachball kick toy on her overhang toys, her crawl toy that makes silly sounds, her spin toy that does numbers and animal sounds, her pink lovely, a pink stuffed animal that her great grandma gave her for Christmas (to be honest not sure what kind of animal it is), bathtime, her mommy making noises while giving her kisses, and ALWAYS her daddy's calming voice.

Kate is still not sitting up on her own. She does well for almost a minute or so and then starts tilting to one side or the other. It's really only a matter of time and her mommy's persistence. I also will need to start putting her on her stomach so she can practice the crawl.

Kate takes 2 naps a day. One a few hours after she wakes up and one a few hours after lunch. As you can tell, I don't have Kate on a routine. I kept telling myself that I needed to get her on a routine so her mood would be more predictable but to be honest, once she gets on a routine then I will need to be on a routine and a strict routine is just not my lifestyle anymore. So I guess you can say we have developed a workable routine.

OH, Kate has discovered her feet. She loves them and thinks they are a great new toy. Note to self: Keep feet super clean.

I think I am going to buy her some meat purees this week. Let her get a feel of some protein. Her face should be interesting with that.

Okay, I think that wraps things up for now. We are heading up to her grandma and grandpa Farmer's in the morning. They haven't seen her in 2 months so they will probably be surprised.

Uncle Wade would be SO proud :)

Kate has really gotten good at making the whoopy cushion sounds. The second video is much better but it really is only for people that live on the edge :)

Husbandless

Don is headed out of town today until Thursday for some training in Dallas. My mom is coming to stay with us tonight. Should be loads of fun watching Dancing with the Stars with her. We like to comment alot. Like we know anything :).



This weekend wasn't as jampacked as last weekend. We went to sweet little Ella-Bella's par-tay at Pump It Up Saturday and it was lots of fun for the kids and adults too. I didn't do any jumping (silly me wore flipflops and not socks) but Don did. I love watching Don do stuff like that because most people would picture him as a personality type that wouldn't do that sort of thing, ya know, let loose. I held chunk which had a blast just watching all the kids. Don and Ethan did have a little competition going through the blow-up toy maze. Ethan won due to Don's lack of physical activity lately...or maybe he is just better. :) Also, Kate went down the big slide with Don. It was so cute. She didn't show much expression. I don't think she knew to. :) Anywho, we came back home to mow the lawn and make Shrimp/Artichoke Bake (Paula Deen's version). It was yummy!





Kate got some new toys Friday. She is liking her new Sing Along Stage. With a microphone that has a little maraca feel to it. She also got her very first float for the beach. We are headed down a week from Thursday. Mom found the perfect place at Sandestin. It is on the beach, ground level, and provides a crib. Not to mention it is beautifully decorated. We are SO excited! Kate's checklist: sunglasses - check, swimsuit - check, multiple hats - check, sunscreen - check, float - check, baby swim diapers - check, bugspray - check, flipflops - check. I guess she needs a swim cover-up and baby towel.

Kate turns 7 months old on Friday so I will update the blog then on what she has been up to lately. I need to go get busy cleaning this house since the white glove lady is coming tonight :). I hope to have the house in better shape once Don Juan gets home. That would be a nice surprise for him, besides Kate smiling at him from ear to ear and Petey jumping up and down.

OH, I almost forgot. Friday I was convinced we had squirrels in our attic. I was laying in bed thinking I heard a shift in weight in the house. I thought, I don't think anyone else is in the house. Then I heard a faint tapping noise. I was convinced it was squirrels due to the man down the road telling me about his neighbor whose attic got ramsacked by squirrels while he was out of town. I was dreading the damage and already thinking how about if they burn down the house AND my beloved PETEY. Saturday afternoon I went and got the mail out of the mailbox then when I reached the front door I saw a plastic bag with a Wayne's Pest Control bill inside. It was for our neighbor. SO that is what I believe it was! SO much for my guard dog alerting me to it! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... :)

Imprint This

So as I was feeding Kate her applesauce earlier, Petey did the cutest thing. He wedged himself in between me and Kate (tight spot) with his paws on my knees. He wanted to make sure I didn't forget that he would like some applesauce too. Kate was happy as a little lark kicking her legs and watching Petey. So Petey was getting slightly kicked in the eyes because he put himself in that situation. So with Petey's right eye closed and Kate swinging her little legs hitting Petey and the side of her high chair, I smiled thinking, I hope this imprints in my mind so that when years down the road I think back about Kate as a baby, I will remember this. Isn't it weird how there are certain distinct memories you have from your childhood, high school, or college? It might be mixed with a song. I just think it is odd how you don't know at the moment what will imprint forever in your mind. Anyway, just food for thought. Since I don't have a picture of that, here is one of Kate showing off her consignment finds. :)