Memorial Day in Albany

Sunday after church the MI Davies flew to NY, and we had a wonderful trip. It was so nice to see our NY family and spend time together. Kate especially loved seeing her cousins. She was enthralled with Katie, Michaela (Mi-Mi), and Jenna (Na.) The girls played great together and it was just heart warming to see. We also love the adorable town parade that Bethlehem holds. Michaela walked in it, and Kate really enjoyed all the action. She sat in her stroller next to her Gammy for most of it, pointing out dogs and waving, and finished the parade in her Pop Pop's lap even closer to the action. We had a picnic lunch at the Hartles and did some swimming in Gammy and Pop Pop's pool. On Monday we got to see more family! It was an awesome trip.

I-Me

Our little Kate is quite the good eater. She likes veggies, protein, pretty much everything we put in front of her. I have to say she gets a truly first child diet with lots of organic, healthy fair and very little sweets. She does love an occasional treat of ice-cream or i-me as she calls it. She gets so excited, waves her arms, and even wants to share as you can see in the second picture above.

KK's Shower

On Sunday we had a bridal shower brunch for Katie and Ben. It was a great day and everything went off smoothly. We cut fresh lilacs and placed them in pewter vases as favors. They looked beautiful and smelled even better.

My Mom and I made a milk chocolate fudge cake with a tiramisu cream filling. I have to say it tasted wonderful and was well worth the stress of transport.

We played several games with the big hit being "How well does the groom know the bride?" Which involved blindfolding Ben, Katie, the bridesmaids, and our dear friend Sophie sitting at the front, and Ben blindly feeling everyone's legs in search of his bride-to-be.

One of the neatest things of the day was to see how happy Katie and Ben were. They both just beamed!

The bridesmaids

The littlest guests, Tommy, Katie Politzki, and the soon to be flower girl Miss Kate

Kate Video at 14 and 15 Months

With the activity level of our little girl, its hard to find the time to put together and upload our videos. I'm going to try to do one video a month and I have some from the last two below. As you can see she is a very fun little 15 month old. The picture below is Kate and I on Mother's Day.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate at 14 Months!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate at 15 Months!

A Trip to the Zoo

As part of my wonderful Mother's Day Brian, Kate, and I headed to the Detroit zoo. We went Monday, Brian's day off, and had both a gorgeous day and wonderful time.

Kate was really interested in the animals and excitedly pointed and exclaimed when she saw them.

Because it was cooler outside, 65 and breezy, the animals were very active.

Kate loved being a big girl and holding her Daddy's hand as we walked around.

She also loved the view from up high!

Our Little Reader

Kate has such an affinity for books. They are certainly her favorite toys. She knows them all by name like Elmo book, Mickey book, Bingo book, Wheels on the bus, etc. She even knows when you skip a page! One of her favorite activities is to take her books out of the basket sit in a big girl chair and flip through all the pages. It gives me a good few minutes and is adorable!

Happy Mother's Day also to our two wonderful mothers! Kate couldn't have two more adoring grandmothers, and all three of us couldn't be more blessed. Happy Mother's Day Gammy and Nana. You are the best!

Kate's New Wheels

Friends of ours brought Kate a new car yesterday and she loves it. She must have gotten in and out of it 100 times today. It was so sweet and she thought she was such a big shot. She kept yelling, "Car, Car." It certainly occupied our day.

Last Friday we had some of our friends through my MOPS group (mothers of pre-schoolers) over for a wine tasting party. Brian and I feel so lucky to have met some great people here at St. Peter and had such a nice time with a few of them last weekend.

This was our line-up for the wine tasting, all Napa wines. I hope Geoff is proud.

Kate at 15 Months

It is hard to believe how much our little girl has changed since her first birthday. She is so "little girl" now especially with her new short bangs. At 15 months Kate's vocabulary has reached 50+ words. My favorite is still Elmo (Ah-Mo), but angel (ahn-gle), amen (Ah-Men), and yogurt (yunga) are a very close second. Everyday brings new discoveries which are followed by her beautiful smile and full, infectious laugh. We are truly having a blast! Kate loves to do anything that big people do. That includes picking up a washcloth and cleaning the kitchen, switching the laundry, talking on cellphones, using keys to open doors, or pretty much anything Brian and I are doing. She loves bird watching at the feeder out our windows, though I think it is actually more like bird scaring. We are both really enjoying all of our activities and with the nice weather have added a daily walk to the church park. Kate's favorite are the swings (yings), and is so cute when she scoots down the slide herself. Kate continues to LOVE books. She picks them out by name, brings them to us, turns herself around, and plops in our laps to be read to. She still loves Mickey (Mi). She knows all the characters by name and can point them out in her books. We are constantly amazed at how much Kate understands, and are constantly amazed as to how much joy she brings to our lives. What a great 15 months. We hope you enjoy the pictures below.

CLICK HERE for Kate's 15 Month Pictures!

San Francisco Trip

Last Sunday Brian and I left for Chicago, and then on Thursday we left (without Kate) for San Francisco. We were a little nervous as to how she or we would do considering we hadn't even left Kate for one night yet, and we were going for three. She and we did fabulous. Kate had a great time with my parents and especially enjoyed her nightly visits from Aunt Katie and Uncle Ben. I was almost a little miffed that she didn't miss me more. Really I'm just glad she did so well, and I know that its due to all the great love and attention she received in Chicago. Thanks everyone. Meanwhile, Brian and I had a fabulous time in San Francisco.

We arrived on Thursday and took a tour of the city. We walked to fisherman's wharf, ghiardelli square, took the trolley, and had a great dinner at Francis Ford Coppola's Restaurant in the city. We even got to eat in the booth where FFC worked on the Godfather.

Brian's friend from high school Geoff now lives in San Francisco with his wonderful wife Giselle so not only did we have great friends to stay with and go out with, we had our very own tour guides. On Friday, we visited the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Tiberon, had drinks on the Pier, and went to a fabulous dinner at Boulevard. Geoff brought some great wines to the meal and Brian even tried scallops. It all went too fast!

On Saturday we went to Napa which was wonderful. We made it to four different wineries and had an outstanding time at each. The scenery was beautiful, the information very interesting, and the tastings were delicious.
From there we headed to the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay. The hotel and views were both gorgeous. We got a room with a fire pit that overlooked the 18th green and the ocean. The picture above is the view just beyond the 18th green. We certainly enjoyed the night, the company, and the numerous bottles of wine consumed by the fire, overlooking the ocean. Minus the late night raccoon visitor that stole our chocolates and created quite the stir, the entire trip was perfect.

Brian and I certainly did miss Kate, but it was really nice to have a chunk of time with my husband, and I am so glad that we did it. Thanks Geoff and Giselle for all you did to make the trip so wonderful.

CLICK HERE for the rest of our San Francisco Vacation Pictures!

Happy Easter

Our Little Bunny!

Matching Dress and Bonnet

A matching coat too!

Kate and her friend Mallory

Well, Kate's 2nd Easter is officially behind us. Easter is an interesting time for our family as Brian is soooo busy with a lot of extra commitments. There is a little extra sort of celebration on our part once we finally make it to Easter Sunday. I think what compounds the holiday is not only do I have to get clothing, baskets, eggs, etc. prepped for the actual holiday, but we always manage to plan a trip right after. The day went off very smoothly as did our drive to Chicago. Kate was an angel in the car. The fact that she is a little older, facing forward in her car seat, and loves Mickey made things much easier. We made it for dinner and had a great day with family.

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday was the Easter Egg Hunt at St. Peter. Kate did pretty well admist the chaos and as usual she was very cute.

Since Kate's birth all of our holidays have been extra special, as we get to do such fun kid things with our little girl. The Easter Bunny picture was taken at the Bunny Extravaganza at our Rec Center two weeks ago. It's better than our Santa pic, but Kate still wasn't too sure.

Happy 40th Anniversary Gammie and Pop Pop!

Today is Brian's Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding anniversary. We are certainly lucky to get to celebrate this special day with them. We are having an awesome time together and enjoyed a great celebratory dinner this evening. Brian and I feel so blessed to have such great parents in our lives, and are so happy when they come to visit.

Our Celebratory Dinner

Kate was a little tuckered out at lunch today

Maybe it was from all the excitement at Gymboree

Congratulations Gammie and Pop Pop!

Spring Fever

With the warmer weather we are certainly enjoying the arrival of spring. Kate loves to run around outside, look for birds, go on walks, swing on the swings, and scoot down the slides at the park. We also enjoyed the company of Nana, Grandpa, and KK over the weekend. My sister stayed until today and we teased that she was our nanny. Kate loved her and has graduated from calling her Te-Te to K-Kah. Thanks a bunch and we miss you all.

Ah-Mo

Our little Kate is quite the communicator. My favorite of the 30+ words she uses regularly is Ah-mo for Elmo. It amazes us how quickly she has developed from little baby to little kid. We absolutely love her attempts at communication and have captured a few of our favorite words in video below.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate and Our Favorite Words!

14 Months and Counting

As Kate has passed the 14 Month mark we are having a blast! She has recently started running, which is adorable. She loves being chased and sometimes even hides in her new tent. She is continuing to exhibit a very playful and fun spirit which we relish. Kate has also starting giving great tight little hugs which make our hearts melt. She continues to be a wonderful eater and has transitioned very well to whole milk out of the sippy-cup. She is also my little mini-me and helps with everything I do including vacuuming. (That love must come from her Gammy.) She has become very communicative and has added many new words and two word phrases to her repertoire. She constantly amazes us with what she understands. Her favorite toy is her pet dog which she loves to pull on a string behind her. The clips below show our little girl in action. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Running from her PJs!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate and Grandpa!

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate in Action!