Toddler Bed

So here is something else that I am just now getting around to blogging about (it happened on January 23rd) . Gary and I woke up to Katy saying "Mommy I'm up high! Mommy I'm up high!" I knew that couldn't be good, so we ran to her room to find her straddling the front of her crib like a horse. She proceeded to swing her leg over and jump down out of the crib like she was dismounting. We were shocked, but had known it was almost time to convert the crib to a toddler bed. I had been dreading this transition for awhile because, being the model strong-willed child, I expected we would have trouble getting her to stay in the bed. Another reason for the dread is because Katy still had her pacifier at the time and one of the reasons she loved nap time and bed time was because they were the only times she got her paci. We decided that the best time to take the paci away was during the full transition to a "big girl" in a "big girl bed".

That morning Gary converted her crib into a toddler bed and we had a long talk with Katy (at least 1 minute, haha). We explained to her that she is a big girl now and since she is getting a big girl bed she will not need a paci to sleep anymore. We got her to understand that the paci had gone bye bye with the baby crib. She seemed excited and didn't act as if this bothered her much, but I was afraid it was too good to be true.

The first trial run was her afternoon nap. She cried most of it but never tried to get out of bed. We were pleased with her first time in the bed. Then, that night she asked for her paci. I thought "here we go, this is going to be a loooong night." And it was. We got up to help soothe her back to sleep about five times between the two of us. Again, she never tried to get out of bed though.

Well, it turned out that the first night was the only night we had to get up like that, and since then, I have maybe had to get up once on a couple of occasions when she just wanted mommy or had fallen on to the floor. The bed is very close to the ground so she wasn't hurt, just confused. I put her back in bed and she went right back to sleep. This has been much easier than I thought. She has been a real trooper with the changes and we are greatly blessed to have such a sweet daughter. Even today she has not gotten out of bed during the night, only at the beginning of bedtime sometimes when trying to go to sleep (and she has just now started doing that). Most of the time she just sings herself to sleep, which gives her daddy and I so much joy to hear.

Chuck E Cheese

Katy's first trip to Chuck E Cheese. She had so much fun especially on the tubes that are suspended from the ceiling. It makes me a little nervous because sometimes she is hard to find up there. She loves it though.

So Smart

I just wanted to share some of the newest things Katy can do lately. (Actually a few months ago. I am always behind.) This is mainly for my future reference, but some might want to know. In November of 2009 she started singing more than she already had been singing. She now sings all of the time. Some of her songs that she can sing well are the ABCs, I'm in the Lord's Army, Jesus Loves Me and the B-I-B-L-E. I think she is definitely taking after her daddy musically. Sometimes she comes home from SuperKids singing songs I haven't ever heard before. Hearing her sing are precious moments to me every day.

Another thing that shocked me was at Christmas she got an easel from her grandparents. We were playing with the chalkboard side and I said "Hey Katy. Lets write your name." I grabbed her hand to write and she said "K-A-T-Y". I was amazed because I had no idea she could spell her name. She can also recognize most of the letters of the alphabet.

Katy is highly active whether she is climbing on something or racing down the sidewalk. She is growing up so fast and I am enjoying every minute of getting to be home with her. She lights up my life!

Katy's 2nd Birthday

With all of the hectic times around Christmas we decided to celebrate Katy's birthday this year on Jan 14th. (In case you don't know, her birthday is December 24.) Here are a few pictures from the party. Thank you to everyone who made her day so special!

Christmas 2009

Here I am playing catchup again so words will be brief. These are some pictures from the Christmas party at SuperKids, Christmas at our house, Gran and Pop's house and in Mississippi. We got some good shots of our new Christmas tree, some of Katy playing in the fun snow, Katy in her Christmas nightgown she wore Christmas Eve, Katy opening presents and of our fun times at Uncle Mac and Aunt Linda's farm in Mississippi. Don't miss the pretty cute pic of her petting their wonderful dog, Forest

In Mississippi, we had a fabulous time. Katy loved riding their 4 wheeler to go see the cows. Funny thing is that since we have been back home we assume she may have had a nightmare one night about cows so at least three times a week she checks behind the rocking chair in her room to make sure there are no cows. At first I think she was actually scared but now I wonder if she just uses the excuse to stall bedtime for a few seconds longer.

Running

Rebecca and Ben talked us into running a half-marathon with them this year. It was December 13, but for practice we decided that on Thanksgiving day we would run the 10k Turkey Trot at McKenzie Park. It was so cold! I felt good about it afterward. Gary and I both ran faster than we had been training. Ben is super fast so he did really well. The rest of us were just happy to finish the race and then go eat some yummy Thanksgiving dinner.

As for the half-marathon. I felt like I was really ready to run this race. We drove to Dallas and were having a great time. We went to the expo and saw many people we knew from Lubbock that were running as well. That made it all the more exciting. So when we get in line for the race we look ahead as far as we can see and there is a huge mob of people. 20,000 give or take. It was crazy trying to run shoulder to shoulder with so many strangers. So the first nine miles were great! We were doing awesome on pace and felt good. Then my feet decided to start hurting. I had gotten some huge blisters on the balls of my feet which isn't so bad except one of them popped. From then on I had to run on the outside edge of my foot. I couldn't do it so my time was not what I hoped it would be but I did finish. I ending up walking on the edges of my feet for about a week and a half. It was miserable. As for Gary, Bec and Ben, well they did great and I am so proud of them.

November

Every year Gary's work takes us to the Corn Maize. Katy went last year but just stayed in the stroller so this year it was so much fun to watch her play.

Halloween, Pumpkins and Trunk & Treat

Katy was a cute little bumble bee for Halloween. Her aunt Geanene was so nice to get her the costume and it saved mommy lots of trouble. Katy was funny because you could tell she was not certain why so many people were giving her candy. She had no problem taking any of it from them though!





We carved an "Oh No!" pumpkin this year using Katy's hands. It turned out pretty cute I thought. Katy enjoying feeling the gooey insides and saying "eeewww".

The Rest of the Summer

In July Gary and I decided to take a vacation for an early 9th anniversary celebration since we had not been on a trip by ourselves since our 1st anniversary. We went to Dallas and had so much fun eating and sleeping. We also played at Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor. Our 4 star hotel room was awesome and since we used Priceline it was very affordable.We ate at Bob's Steakhouse, The Cheesecake Factory and Uncle Julio's. It was wonderful to be able relax and enjoy time together.



Also in July we went with my family to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels. It was funny how we payed a decent price to get in only to spend half the day watching and playing with the one who got in free. It was worth it though because Katy was having a blast. There was so much for her play on that she was running in every direction. The park is so big that we ended up not getting to ride everything we wanted, but we still had a ton of fun.



While on vacation we went to San Antonio to walk around on the river walk and stopped by the Alamo. Katy was VERY impressed.


In August we had Katy's picture made at the Arboretum by Sarah Bigalow. We are very impressed with the way they turned out. Sarah is very good with kids and was able to get Katy to do almost anything she asked. It was the most stress free picture time we have had. I think I am done with the studios.

Here is a link to the pictures on Picasa.

June Happenings

Yes I am just now blogging about June. When I get a chance to get on the computer I feel I need to work so there is not a lot of time for blogging. I feel a heavy weight lifted when I update so here we go. I have some great pics of our sweet Katy so I will let those do most of the talking.

Here she is on her new motorcycle rocker from Gran and Pop. We are getting her started early so she can take after her cool parents. (Our pic is from 2006, before Katy. I miss riding so much.)


Katy loves the water so we got her a small pool to play in and maybe teach her to swim. We also found a swing set that we got for a steal. She loves to swing and we are adding a slide soon.



I love to play with her hair so I added some pics of her french braided hair. Look at those beautiful baby blues!


Jump n Jungle with friends:

We went to Critterfest at the science spectrum with our friends. They have a great little kids play area that we could have spent all day in. They also had some animals she could feed. She did much better this time than she did at the library. She wasn't as scared to let them eat out of her hand. The last thing we did was go to a tiger show which was actually frightening. The guy did not seem like he had the tigers under control and at times he seemed unsure of himself in the ring with them. We were all afraid something traumatizing was going to happen and were ready to leave before the show was over. Overall we had a blast and can't wait to go back next year.



She loves to chill in her Jump-o-lene. Since we have yet to purchase a dining table this takes it's place. We like to focus on the important things. ;)


We captured some great shots of her playing with her daddy's gloves. She is ready to go to work.