Peaceful day at Bittercreek

Spent Sunday at Bittercreek Railroad. It's been a really long time since we were last there. Only a handful of people were there-- was really nice and peaceful to have the whole place literally to ourselves.

Better Than TV?

We did some laundry this morning and James pulled up a stool to watch the clothes go round and round.

Cate reading one of her favorites books in the arm chair. I remember when James used to do this at her age.

Corey & James Climb a Mountain

Corey & James had a fun adventure last weekend hiking up to the CalPoly 'P'. After almost a week of rain the clouds finally parted and the sun shone on all the clean green earth below it. Corey said James hiked the whole way to the top and back, and despite skipping a nap, he was bouncing off the walls when he got home afterwards and was telling me all about it jumping up and down in place. We are very excited to start hiking on the "muddy mountain" (as James calls it) aka Madonna Mountain (can see it from the kids' bedroom window) as well as the other peaks in the area. The kids love being outdoors so much and Corey & I love the fresh air and seeing all the astounding views of our town when you climb just a little ways up most of the hills in the area. Really lucky to live is such an amazing place.

Lunch Date with Cate

Just had my first mommy & daugther lunch date with Cate today at Panera. It was overcast but perfectly still outside so we sat on the patio (anticipating food might be thrown everywhere) and enjoyed a turkey sandwich, tomoato basil soup, and some mac & cheese. We had such a pleasant time we went to the park at the lake afterwards for a little play time before naps. It was so nice to spend one on one quality time with her and actually take a moment to talk with her, give her direct attention, and read her books without being in a hurry. Look forward to doing it again!

March magically warm evening

My daughter picked the onions out of the salsa tonight so she could eat them like little apple pieces munch munch munch. Then she had 4 ginormous strawberries at Farmer's tonight. But she turns her nose up at donuts and cookies. Go figure. 

In the meantime, James' new favorite word is pajammies, as in "let's stay in our pajammies ALL day!" He's excellent at undressing and dressing himself all on his own and picks out his outfits everyday, which mainly consist of his favorite color blue.

Cate's Check-up

Little Catherine had her 20 month check-up today and here are her stats:

Height: 33.25" (75th percentile)
Weight: 25 lbs. (50th percentile)

She's also just started wearing a size 6 shoe (size 5's still fit, but barely) and James at 3.5 years old is wearing a size 10 (wow!). Big feet run in the family apparently.

Cate's Words at 19 months

Cate has so many new words it's hard to keep up with it, but some of my favorites include:

"Nana" for banana
"Mee" for blankie
"Meemees" for jammies
"Jmss" for James
"Behgees" for veggies
Daddee & Mommee (she rattles this off is sentences)
"Heh-woah" for hello as she holds a phone to her ear
"Dow" for down (and for up on most occassions)
"Wa" for water
"Meh" for milk
"Ktee" for kitty
"Boohbah" for football (LOVES the football)
"Owwee"
"Peepee" and "poopoo" (she's fascinated with the bathroom and James keeps informing us we need to get his little potty out for her to use)
"Ba" for bath
"Eerrs" for ears, "eyes", "noh" for nose, "ha" for head/hair (and she points to each body part as you go through them)
"Daw" for dog (and she can point them out)
"Brsh" for brush (either for hair, teeth, or a la Ariel she uses her fork)
"Two" while holding up two items of the same thing

Fun to compare to James' words at the same age.

She completely understands everything that's going on and follows conversations. If Corey talks about running to the store with James, she toddles to the door for her "shoooss" so she won't get left behind (if she does, she erupts into tears). She adores "baybees" (babies) as well as strollers and anything else with buckles (high chairs, carseats, etc.). She loves to read books before bed and rock in the rocking chair. She also still loves food, favoring veggies and anything bursting with flavor (salsa, special sauce, you name it, it's gotta have flavor). Fun little girl!

Jeff & Lindsey Turner's Wedding

Make no mistake, I know darn well I'm not a wedding photographer, but when my nephew Jeffery Turner (my sister Judy's 2nd oldest son) and his bride Lindsey Taylor informed us their friend & photographer was terribly sick and wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding, I felt the least I could do was step up and try to capture as many moments as I could. And out of 1,600 shots, I think I managed to get a couple good ones in there :-)

My sister Eileen just got the same camera as me for Christmas (good hubby she has!) so we spent the evening swapping cameras and taking snaps of every moment we could (no seriously, every moment). We tried to be stealth about it, even taking off our heels for the ceremony so we wouldn't go click clacking all over the dance floor as the bride and groom exchanged vows but it's kinda hard to miss two nearly 6 foot tall women decked out in black dresses dashing about the room angling for the best shot. Nevertheless, we did pretty decent. Below are some favorites (I'll load more group shots in a separate post when I have another 2 or 3 or 10 hours to kill).