I've Been Published

I forgot to share with you the BOOK Mom gave to me for my birthday. I figure I must be pretty special to get a book made about me! The password is 878320.

Here is a picture of Zach and I goofing around last week. I like to climb in his crib and play with him. Mom doesn't mind, as long as I don't land on him! Poor little guy is not feeling well these past couple days. His first tooth broke the surface this week and he has a nasty little fever. I hope he is better soon.

Bon Weekend!

Finding Nemo

Hello there. Sorry it took me so long to post, it has been a busy couple of days. I had a very special 4th birthday...seems like this celebration has been going on for a week now! Nana came here Wednesday. We went for lunch and then Dad and Nana took me to a sprinkler park while mom went on a "mission". I came back, and we opened presents. Nana got me a really cool magnetic responsibility chart and a dino door hanger. Aunt Corrie's present arrived in the mail and I loved the cute clothes. Mom and Dad surprised me with a real meteorite and a spinosaurus tooth. My last gift was in the basement and I knew it was going to be something pretty special. Boy was I surprised to see a guinea pig down there, all ready to meet me! We always have had a no pet rule here, so I was not expecting him at all. Mom and Dad thought it was time for a pet -- actually, Mom talked Dad into it.
I named the little guy Nemo. He's pretty cute. He's only 3 months old and is pretty friendly. Although, we let him run around the basement yesterday and he managed to hide under the entertainment center and get stuck. He poops a lot! And he eats a lot! Kind of like Zach! Mom thinks we need a bigger cage for him, so maybe Dad and I will build one soon. I like to pet Nemo a lot, but I haven't held him yet, he's a little squirmy.

So then yesterday Nana hung around and played with me for the day, she had to leave around dinner time. I went to French class and had lots more fun this week.

Today is my preschool orientation. I am pretty excited to go and see my pals again.

HERE are some pictures from Wednesday. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and well wishes to me.

Have a great weekend!
Katherine

It Must be My Birthday

If I am eating cake for breakfast, it can only be one time of year. I was pretty excited to have chocolate milk and chocolate cake for breakfast, although when it was put in front of me, I asked to have a pear instead. I did manage to choke down a couple bites just for the sake of it being my birthday, and because Mom was in the background yelling at me to "Hurry up and eat your cake!". There's something you don't hear often. Zach was more then happy to help out.

The day is still up in the air. Nana should be here by noon. Dad ended up having to go in for a meeting, but should be home around lunch as well. If the weather cooperates, we'll go to the sprinkler park. I said I wanted to have my birthday dinner at Red Lobster (mom says yay!), and then I changed my mind to Chuck E Cheese (mom says boo). So we'll see what kind of mood I am in tonight. After all, a four year old is entitled to change her mind.

Future Groundskeeper

I think I've found my calling in life. I shall become a landscaping maintenance engineer.

What a rockin' weekend it was. We had a fun time all around. On Saturday, Debbie and Ryan came and we went downtown for pizza and games. We went to an arcade and I had fun with the kiddie games and got to take home a teeny-tiny little pleisosaurus with my 30 tickets I collected. Saturday was also the day that Nana gave me my battery-operated contraption of fun. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, but by then end of the weekend, I was tooling around pretty well. It may not be CAT, but hey, nothing runs like a Deere, right? And, quite frankly, John Deere Green is much more appealing than Caterpillar Yellow.

Sunday was my party, or should I say, par-tay? It was loads of fun. The cake was pretty decent considering mom slacked and bought a WalMart cake. The food was tasty too and we'll be munching on leftovers all week. I was so happy Grandma and Grandpa D made it, considering they just got back from China Friday night and were a little tired. When asked my favorite part, of course I said the presents. Mom has been coaching me all week about the importance of having friends and family that love me being the highlight of my birthday, but we all know that a 4 year old can't help but go a little gaga over gifts. I got my first Barbie (thx Uncle D and Amy), tons of clothes (thx Aunt Debbie and others), bath toys, games, bubbles, books upon books, a rocking chair and craft things. My favorite book from the day was called Skippyjon Jones. I highly recommend it. I think mom has more fun reading it that I do!

Today was my friend party. It really went well considering 8 kids were each decorating their own cakes. We had some crazy dinosaur concoctions and a good portion of the frosting was skipping the cake and going straight from spreader-to-mouth. Most of the cakes were 3 parts frosting/sprinkles and 1 part cake. We played outside and burned off some energy. My pals were kind enough to bring some gifts as well. Every thing was dino-related, imagine that! I was ecstatic and grateful. Later this week, we're going to go through my toy room and find some things to donate. It is a little excessive around here lately!

Better go brush my teeth. I have a dentist appt tomorrow at 10, oy! On Wednesday (my real birthday), Nana will be back & Dad is taking off work. Mom is sure building up my gift. I think I may have overheard the word "rodent" a few times...hmm....should be interesting.

Later and thanks to all who helped me celebrate my birthday and make it special. I love you all loads!

HERE are some pics to share

Katherine

Ghetto Fabulous

Uh-oh. I think mom found a new "hobby". We all know that she tends to get really, really OCD about some idea and absolutely beat the idea to death and then abandon such idea along with the expensive supplies acquired by said "hobby". Scrapbooking? Digital Scrapbooking? French Memo Boards? All these items are shoved back in some closet or saved on some back-up server right now, collecting dust, never to be seen from again. Well, look out candy stores. We made my dino-candy suckers yesterday and we had a blasty blast melting the chocolate and pouring the molds. I think it won't be long 'till mountains of plastic molds take over our kitchen.

We went to a "Decorator's Grocery" store and you could here the sound of angels singing around mom when she walked in. Cake pans, sprinkles, frosting contraptions, candy molds, cake stands...wow! We walked out with way more than we planned for, but it was FUN. Who knew a whole store could be dedicated to just the baking of cakes and cookies? This store was in the ghetto. Mom said "Aww crap, this place is in the ghetto". Well, there were a lot of friendly looking people hanging around outside and I loved the brick style roads. So I told mom as we walked from the car in my loudest voice "I like the ghetto!". Oops. Mom then said "Shhh!" in her loudest voice and we ran into the store.

So enough of my ghetto tales. We made the suckers - awesome. We wrapped the candies - awesome again. We now have enough dinosaur related cake decorating products to ensure that Zach will be having dinosaur birthday parties whether he likes it or not. Today, we stayed home and cleaned. Mom let me bust out the play-doh and anything "crumby" before she cleans the floors tomorrow. I helped scrub the tub and carry laundry. I also helped bake cookies which consisted of me on the counter with a bag of chocolate chips and some marshmallows between my toes. Later, we went to the store and picked out the cake for my family party. That's right, a store cake. You would think that my previous story would convince anyone that mom would make my cake, but she is a slacker. What can I say? I guess this kid party is taking priority right now. Not to mention every shopping trip for the past year I have pointed at those cooler cakes and said "THAT'S WHAT I WANT FOR MY BIRHTDAY, MOM!" So I picked out a Tinkerbell cake. Yup. Dino party one day, Tinkerbell the next. Don't say I don't keep you on your toes.

Nana Vicki and Aunt Debbie are heading down tomorrow. I think I will have loads of fun and be kept far from mom, who will surely be in full blown crazy mode by then. Happy Birthday Papa -- yet another person born in my great month.

That's all for now, more to come this weekend!
Katherine

The Truth Comes Out

Many people have asked Mom how she continues to find the time to pursue the joy of cooking whilst caring for two small children. She usually rattles off some swanky answer like, "Oh, my kids are really good" or "Nothing but a little time management". What a load of bull-hookey.

Have you ever laced measuring spoons around the toes of a 6 month old? It takes him quite a while to figure it out. When he does manage to get one of the spoons off, you gotta get it quick before he gags himself with it. So if the pasta has baby hair in it and the meat tastes like toe jam, you now know why! And yes, Zach is sitting on the edge of the counter, please don't call the authorities!

Good thing I am self-sufficient or who knows what she'd do to me!

Oh, and birthday shout-outs to Aunt Debbie and Uncle D! Way to be born in an awesome month!

Love,
Katherine





Reeeeach! Just don't fall out of that Bumbo.

Really? Already? Oy!

As you can see by Zach's ensemble du jour, football season or preseason, is upon us. Are you kidding me? I haven't even recovered from last year's loss yet! Oh well, go Bears! Hope you hit a home run or something.

My big Ebay shipment of party favors came today. Mom and I spent the afternoon assembling goodie bags. That's right, goodie bags. Mom says we she was a kid they were lucky to get some nasty stale cake and maybe got to roller skate with a chicken at other kids parties. My goodie bags are the bomb. We found some dinosaur bubbles, paper, tatoos, pencils and finger puppets. Plus my own customized 4th birthday candy bars. Snatch!

This is all for my friend party of course. My family party will be a bit more mature and civilized...oh wait a minute, I did say my family didn't I? Thanks to those of you who have RSVP'd. And to the majority of you that have not, I salute you with a big poop sandwich. Mom is ever-so-grateful and doesn't want to hear any whining if there is not enough food for you all.

I have a busy day tomorrow. I think we're making some dinosaur suckers. Maybe it is a bit overkill, but you can't say we didn't go all out!

Have a good 'un

Katherine






It was a little humid out, ok?

Fabulous Friday

We had a fun day yesterday. Dad took the afternoon off and we headed to Bloomington-Normal to the Children's Discovery Museum. It was 3 levels of fun! It was very similar to the one in Naperville, just a little bigger. I was able to appreciate the exhibits much more now that I am almost 4 and I really enjoyed the hands on stuff. Painting the windows was by far my favorite. The net maze was cool too, although I got stuck at the top and couldn't figure out how to get back down. Mom and Dad were a little worried, but I figured it out! After the museum, we went to the Wilhelms' new house for dinner. I haven't seen Katie, Erin or Nicki since before Zach was born, so I was very excited to see them. I had lots of fun with the girls and they have a beautiful new home. The girls gave me a whole box of hair stuff to take home and their Hungry Hungry Hippos game, which I am told was a favorite game of Mom's when she was little! We didn't get back until after 11pm, so Zach and I went straight to bed and slept in today. We're going to have a quiet weekend at home. Mom needs to start getting things in order for my parties and I plan on helping her.

Have a great weekend!
Katherine






Pumping some water












Stuck in the net/carpet maze














Hard at work















Zach had fun watching me paint from the other side

The Art of Deception

See my sneaky face? That's because I have been a little sneaky lately. See, for those of you that don't know, this is about the age where I am able to consciously be a little deviant for my own benefit. For example, when I was at my cousins' house this past weekend, I was watching my uncle play some video games. These were pretty graphic games, which are fine for my uncle and older cousin, but mom always tells me not to watch them when Dad plays them. Well, guess what? I watched them when no one thought I was; and I told mom that it was ok, because she wasn't there to tell me no! So mom had a big talk with me about making the right decisions even when she's not around and being responsible. I guess I see what she is talking about, but I also realized that maybe sometimes I can get away with stuff too. That's just how my mind rationalizes things I guess. Mom was too busy laughing about it to get too upset, so I guess this was my warning call.

So to backtrack, Dad and I went to Rockford last weekend. He had his fantasy football draft and I played with my cousins. I had SO much fun! Mom said her and Zach were a little bored, but she got lots of housework done. She said it sure was quiet around the house without me. I've been on a bit of a non-stop talking marathon lately and am making sure that there is never a dull or quiet moment around the house. I'm on a kick lately of trying to guess what letter everything starts with, that's a lot of sounding-out phonic action for everyone.

Zach is doing great. He's so happy I'm home and I missed him very much. He really likes playing with the CAT toys Nana and Papa bought for me.

Later gators!
Katherine

The Good, the Bad and the Silly

HERE are the rest of the gazillion photos they took on Friday. More to come later...kind of busy today! The lighting is kind of screwy in some of the untouched ones, so don't mind if I look pasty or weird.

Workin' it for the Camera

Here's a little taste of our pics today. Everything went well!

A Whale of a Tale

I'm having a good ole time with my family being here. We've been keeping quite busy, which keeps Zach from napping, but all is good. Yesterday, the weather kind of hampered our plans, so we stayed in. Mom made blackened tilapia which practically burnt the house down -- not fun in 100 degree heat. Today, we hit the zoo. I enjoyed the sea lion feeding and the fact that Nana bought me stuff from the gift shop after mom already said NO! The Zoo is quite tame, but nice since it is rarely busy and just long enough for my attention span. We dined out for lunch (that's not MY Corona in the photo) and swam in the afternoon. Mom dunked me. She thought it would be fun. I did not concur. She dunked Zach, too. He also, did not think it was fun. Too bad no one dunked Mom. It is kind of nice having grandparents cool enough to stay in a hotel, I love to swim there and terrorize their room with Skittles and juice. I had my first pop-tart today from the hotel vending machine and it was awwwwe-some!

Tomorrow, Zach and I are getting a photo shoot done together and then we'll probably shop some. Mom and Dad have a little date night planned....without ME! Oh well, I'll have WAAAY more fun at the house than out on some stinky date! They don't know what they are missing!

Hope you're having a splendid week. I know I am.

Katherine






But it's only 12 o'clock, Grandma!















Super-foxy!
















Meet the wrath of floaty duck!

It's Gettin' Hot in Here

Whew! I don't know what the weather is like where YOU are at, but it is H-O-T here. Our trip to the Wildlife Prairie Park was canceled. Neither us or the animals were going to be too comfy out there. The heat index is supposed to hit 105 today, so looks like we are homebound again. Kind of like being stuck inside in February when it is -20!

Nana and Papa are coming tomorrow and staying till Saturday, so I am super-excited. They are staying in a hotel, so maybe we can swim there. I think we'll have lots of fun.

Zach and I had doctor appointments yesterday. We both are doing well and are healthy little critters. Zach is pushing 17lbs and I am 32. I only gained 3lbs since last year, but the doctor says that is normal and I am healthy, so that's what counts. Zach will be taking over my car seat soon, so it will soon be time for me to graduate to a booster seat!

I'm going to help mom clean now and make some treats. Hopefully, poor Zach won't get picked on today like he did yesterday. Mean old Mom.

Have a super-COOL week!

Katherine

Can I Get a Drumroll?

Hi-ya! I had a great day today. My gymnastics extravaganza was just that. 22 songs, 100 gymnasts and a lot of stinky, sweaty mats! Fortunately, I was song numero 2 in the playlist, so we ducked out around song 10 since Zach was fussy and I was busy feeding popcorn to the birds. Everyone oooohed and awwwwwed when us little ones came out. I was awesome -- definitely the cream of the crop. I wasn't quite sure what to think of all those people clapping, but I'm pretty sure I liked it. I'm going to watch a special movie tonight and no big plans for tomorrow. Maybe we can get to the park or down to the riverfront if it is nice.

Have a super weekend. I'll be back Monday with some pics from the wildlife prairie park.

Katherine





The girls -- woo hoo!













Stinky boys -- boo!









I'm in the dark blue leotard

Up, Up and Away!

I wanted to show off my kite I made. Do you see it up there? It was my idea to hang it on my mural, I thought it looked very at home there. I made the kite with some tissue paper, ribbon, bows and glue. The tissue paper tearing was really good for me since I have been working on some fine-motor skills. If I am going to start kindergarten next year, we have to keep working on my motor skills since I will be one of the youngest ones.

Zach and I went with mom to the beauty parlor-salon-shop-place today. We were so good. I played with the toys and Zach flirted with the ladies. There is a cafe in there, so I had some cookies and milk at the little table. Bridget cut my hair too, just a smidge. I have to look just perfect for my show tomorrow -- zoinks! I am a little nervous!

No nap today, mom wants me in bed early tonight so her and dad can watch a movie. I need to go outside now, mom is cooking up a big batch of BBQ sauce and it smells like a Memphis smokehouse in here - blech, just a hot dog for me, please!


A-B-C ya!

All about the bows and the dough....yo.

Hey there. I've kind of been busy this week. This is the first day we've had to just hang out and ch-ch-ch-chill. Literally. We aren't leaving this house today and going out into the inferno. Art class wrapped up this week. It was awesome and I am asking when I can start French. After gymnastics yesterday, we went to the sprinkler park with some friends and had a blast. I had to do my business though, and commented to mom how I wished I was a doggy right about now. There were no bathrooms in sight, so I had to improvise in the back of mom's vehicle...TMI, I know. We stopped at some lady's house called the Bow Mama, she hooked us up with a wide variety of bows. Mom has never been one to gussy me up too much, but she bought one to match a leotard I have and I asked for more, so there you have it. Speaking of that leotard, it is for my gymnastics extravaganza coming up Saturday. I get to perform at a shelter/band shell thing. I hear that's just one step under a routine schtick in Vegas. I am excited to perform my obstacle course to the crowd of dozens!

Zach is doing well. His 6mo birthday came and went and mom didn't notice till the next day. Bad mom. Mom's really been a little careless lately. Maybe it is because Zach is STILL getting up at night, thinking he needs to eat and breaking mom's spirit. The kid eats more than me in a given day....3 meals of rice/fruit/veg and his milk. So mom is holding strong and doing everything but giving him that early morning bottle, but sometimes it takes a lot of rocking! Mom let him have a pancake last night, probably not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but with the 2nd one, you are just happy if they are content, and that pancake was FULL of contentment. And mom's a nurse, so hopefully she still remembers a thing or two if things went awry.

So our day indoors was put to good use. We made some homemade play-doh in a variety of colors. Mom's stainless steel pots may forever taste of it, but that's ok, it was great fun and kept me busy for 3 hours with my gianormous box of cookie cutters.

I am off for a siesta and then maybe I can talk mom into letting me run through the sprinkler. I guess that's it for now. Oh yeah, no baseball game last weekend. Mom bought me a 25 cent ziploc bag of tiny rubber bugs at a garage sale, and I said I rather stay home and play with them. Mom wasn't so happy, but what could she do? Maybe some other time :)

Lates
Katherine





Bow-a-palooza













Poor pancake didn't stand a chance













Mom's naptime chore















Sitting pretty