A Few Firsts for Our Family

 Kate has never had a friend party until last Saturday! And I've never put up decorations for any of our parties. I've helped with other family parties but I've never done decorations at my house for Scott, me, or Kate.

 Here is my support group helping me through my first party. Sam, Taylor, Jeni, and Cameron helped me decorate while Kate pranced around like a birthday girl should (the other little girl is one of Kate's friends who was the first to arrive).

 Another first. I have NEVER ordered a cake. Kate had a specific cake in mind so her and I picked it out together at the bakery. She chose an Ariel themed cake made with chocolate-layer-sheet cake, ,chocolate filling and chocolate icing.

 Here are most of the kids coloring while we wait for a few more guests.

T.J. McGowen, Taylor Mayfield, Kate Bangerter, Archer Cheney, Katie Bailey, Elle Quinones, Saylor Dahl, Elliot Anderson, and India Weimers

All our party animals. We tried to limit the guest list by only inviting the children in Kate's church class, and one friend from out of the neighborhood. Taylor is Kate's cousin who just happened to be at a sleepover in Idaho with Kate and Grandma and Grandpa M the night before. When my mom and dad dropped Kate off, Taylor offered to stay to help with the party so she was Kate's final, albeit impromptu, guest.

 Ready for CAKE!

 Queen for a day! This is the crown Kate received on her birthday from her Preschool teacher.

 Make a wish!

I Know it Was a Week Ago, BUT...

My Little Leprechaun

I wish I would've brought my camera when I picked Kate up from Preschool. All the kids had their Leprechaun masks on and it was hilarious.

No, I didn't do any strange green food. I didn't really do much. However, I did remember to decorate with a few St Patty's day wall decor (as seen-barely-in the picture), compliments of my mother-in-law. I did not forget to dress my daughter in the appropriate green sweater and help her accessorize with a green bracelet. I even put on my own festive green flower pin and green necklace.

Baby steps.

Kate's Birthday Present from Sam

 When Sam came to our house off the bus (or maybe she got a ride from her "friend" Clark), she gave Kate a present to open... A Rapunzel Beach Towel! Kate was so excited she got right to the business of vacationing, in our living room.

 Love the shades.

Thanks, Sam.

We Had A Science Lesson

On this day, must have been last week, Kate was trying out her new bike she received for her birthday and we saw two, HUGE worms. We had the most fun picking them up and talking all about worms and their habits and the cool things about them (like the fact that if you cut them in half they become two worms that keep on living). All sorts of good info came back from my Zoology class in College. This was a really good mom-moment. I felt like I was giving my little girl a slice of the world on a platter (Don't worry, we didn't EAT the worm).

Binge Drinking - Not!

Me (trying to look "angelic"), Kate, and Sam (showing off her evilness with pride)

This was just one of those moments. You see, I DO NOT drink cola drinks. Maybe twice a year I will have a Fresca at my mom's or a Root Beer at a Summer BBQ at someone else's house. I buy sprite or 7up when Scott is sick once a year or so. Other than that, I am a water drinker.

My friend seems to ALWAYS have a Diet Coke in her hand whenever I see her. Maybe she needs it to manage hanging out with me. I must be THAT bad. Lately I've been teasing her about her "addiction" to Coke and I even tell her that I'm worried about her because of how unhealthy all that carbonation and caffeine are for her body.

Meanwhile, we have Scott's Grandpa over for dinner once a month and I thought it would be nice to have his favorite drink. I bought a case of Cherry Coke and I admitted to my friend that I was a little tempted to taste it. I thought it might taste good. On my 31st birthday, my friend brought some treats and a Cherry Coke. I guess she wanted me to join "the dark side".

I would have tossed it in the trash and just felt sorry that my friend wasted her money buying me something she knew I didn't believe in drinking for health reasons. But my niece and sister were there and the peer pressure and fun of the moment got to me.

Evidently, Sam believes that you can tell if you have ADHD by seeing the effect caffeine has on you. If it calms you, then you most assuredly have ADHD. If you feel hyper, then you don't. She has over the years told me that I for sure have ADHD so I thought this would give me a chance to prove it.

Why not do it in style. I put the contraband in a fancy glass and pretended to really booze it up. I made my niece have some too (of course her mother was present so she was accompanied by her legal guardian while ingesting the harmful substance). I didn't really feel any different from the caffeine. Does that mean I have ADHD? I did feel slightly guilty, like I'd done something horribly evil and wrong. I haven't had a drink since, clean and sober for 20 days!

Bowling

 Scott, Kate, and Kevin

 Scott and Kate

P.S. Bowling shoes are seriously HOT!

 
I never posted about bowling on my birthday! We don't really do much so when we do, I really need to prove it. We went with our friends Cliff, Marila, and Kevin. They live near us and Cliff shares my birthday. We decided to celebrate together. We ate the yummiest food. I had NO IDEA that bowling alley food was THAT good. Seriously. And then we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard for a chocolate malt concrete. We exchanged gifts and had laughs and really enjoyed ourselves despite our PATHETIC bowling abilities. Cliff was the only one that really shined. He bowled spare after spare and then finally a strike.

Our Baby Turned 5 Today!

Five years ago, our life changed forever...

Kate Elizabeth was born March 15th, 2006.
Scott had worked late trying to get a job done. Kate's due date was one day away and Scott wanted to get this last job finished so he didn't leave any lose ends before taking the week off for Kate. I had taken the day off work. I relaxed most of the day. I met him for dinner at Pace's Dairy Ann and then he went back on the job to finish. I noticed my contractions were beginning to linger and come more frequently as we ate dinner. I mentioned that to Scott. I don't think he thought anything of it.

Scott didn't come home until 10:00 pm. I had a feeling that Kate would be coming soon and I tried to convey that again to Scott but he was so tired it didn't register. He got cleaned up from his LONG day of work. He probably worked 15-16 hours. He got ready for bed and climbed beneath the covers to get cozy. Just as the sandman was opening the door for him, I said, "Scott, I think we need to go to the hospital now."

As we drove the 35 minute commute from our house to the hospital, Scott's sleepiness began to show. I did all I could to keep him awake, talking him through it, asking him questions. At one point he nearly swerved into the median. Safely arriving to the hospital and being admitted to triage was a relief.

The whole experience was quite peaceful, not at all like the movies where the woman screams bloody murder. I had decided to labor without pain relief because I wanted to know what the whole experience was really like. I was feeling most of my contractions in my lower back and I kept asking Scott to massage them away and for the most part that worked but he repeatedly fell asleep in the middle of a contraction, while rubbing my back. I had to keep talking to him to keep him awake.
Early in the morning, maybe 3:00 or 4:00, we called our parents to let them know where we were and that Kate would be born soon. I didn't know it but Scott's mom, my mom, Jeni, and Sam headed straight to the hospital soon after our call. They were waiting outside the door as Kate was born.
After a struggle to deliver her, the nurse plopped her on the scale and called out her weight at 9 lbs. 3 oz. I was relieved, knowing the reason I struggled during that last hour or so of the delivery was because this little girl wasn't so little!
My pregnancy with Kate was easy and uneventful. I was well. I never struggled with the pains and tiredness that everyone complains about. I got fat, yes, but I was so glad for it. I felt more fabulous than I've ever felt knowing that a little person was coming to be in our family.

Kate's delivery was easy and Kate was born perfectly healthy without complications.

As a baby and toddler, Kate's behaviors and milestones always followed all the books. Since she's the only child we have, we have put everything we have into her. Our world revolves around her.

Last night, we surprised Kate by taking her to the store and buying her a bike and a helmet.
Today, we woke her up before Scott left for work and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her and let her unwrap her present, new Barbie furniture for her doll house. She was calm and gracious and didn't even squeal with excitement like she used to. I pulled all the pieces out of the box with the help of some scissors and Kate played for a while until it was time to get ready for preschool. Kate was excited to go because her preschool class would be celebrating her birthday. That meant that she would be line leader, the class would sing to her, I would come to spotlight her, and she would receive a small surprise from Miss Connie. As I walked her to school she was so sweet, thanking me genuinely for the present and telling me that she was so glad she came to our family. I thanked her for being willing to come to us and how special she is to us.

Disney on Ice

Part of Kate's birthday gift from some of her extended family was to attend Disney on Ice last night with me. We had a fabulous time!

Scott took this picture of us before we left. He was supposed to be at the cabin with a youth group from church but due to an unexpected complication, the group canceled and Scott was able to stay home. This was such good news because Kate and I were planning to take the bus into the city because Scott would've had our only vehicle hauling people and the Ranger to the cabin.

We arrived early enough that we were able to check the vendor displays and choose a memento for Kate. She chose an Ariel figurine. No surprise. 

As we were waiting for the show to begin, we took a few pictures, texted photos of us to Scott, and the family who paid for the tickets, and looked around at the crowd. I was surprised by the number of people going down the stairs with their 20 oz. cups of Beer. I chuckled at the stranger sitting next to me, another mom, and we chatted about the irony of Beer at an event like this and decided it was a consolation for the men who had come to be with their families. We chuckled over that a little. With tongue in cheek, she told me that she didn't drink but that perhaps this would be a good time to start...

 These were the brooms that came out when Mickey dressed in the sorcerer's hat. 

Kate loved when all the evil villains came out like Maleficent, Cruella, Captain Hook, the evil witch from Snow White, and Jafar.

Her favorite part of the show was when all the princesses came out, especially Ariel. 

The show was spectacular! I was really enjoying it. At intermission, my new, stranger, friend and I remarked about the beer again. I really loved the show so much, I saw no purpose in beer and I think she agreed that it really was amazing so far. 

Kate said adorable things and was at the edge of her seat the entire show. When the Princesses were all on the ice with their Princes, she noticed Jasmine and said (loudly to overcome the music) "Nook (look), Mom! Jasmine is dressed un-modestly (immodestly) just like in the movie!" 

I covered her mouth a little and she looked at me, almost cross, and said, "They can't hear me." 

She wasn't being rude, she was just excited about the similarity of Jasmine's real-life costume with the cartoon version. But it was moderately embarrassing as I wondered what the people around me thought.

Later she was asking about wigs and wondering if certain princesses were wearing wigs. I told her I didn't know and that it was possible their hair was real. But when the human Beast came out with Belle she said, "The Beast surely has a wig on because boys don't ever have long hair like that." I let her know that sometimes, boys do have long hair. 

I loved Kate's anecdotes throughout the performance. I was proud of her that she didn't beg for more trinkets, cotton candy, snow cones, or popcorn. She just wanted some ice water at intermission. She asked if she could have another present at the end of the show but when I said, "No, babe, you already have your new Ariel." she dropped it.

We made it home and as Scott and I tucked Kate in bed, we told Scott all about the wonderful evening we'd had. 

I was sincerely chicken to take Kate on this outing by myself. After some convincing, I thought how much I wanted to be there with Kate and I was able to overcame my fears. I'm so glad. I wouldn't have wanted to miss last night for anything!

Guess What Bloomed Today?

...the Daffodils

Kate went out to jump on the trampoline with her friend, another Katie B., and ran back inside.

She told me I had to come quick to see what bloomed.

After Kate saw this picture I took of her and her friend she said, "Ooh, pretty! You should put that on your Blog."

Urine My Thoughts...

Kate peed in her pink, furry, snow boots today.

We ran down the hill after Preschool. We made it in the house and she was already doing the potty dance while I tried to free her from her backpack and puffy, purple, snow coat. I was about to pull off her boots when she ran lickety-split into the bathroom and made it to the toilet only to leak all down her legs and into her boots. With a puddle of pee on the floor, I peeled off her steaming clothes and poured the pee out of her boots. Poor girl. She did her best. She sure was bossing me around there for a minute. I was more upset about how she bossed me around, telling me to take off this and wipe off that, then I was with the whole urine mess.

I asked Scott when he was home for lunch how one goes about cleaning urine from the inside of a pair of snow boots. He told me to throw them away.

I managed to soak them in the laundry sink with some soapy, laundry detergent, rinse them off, and hang them to dry sole-side up on the drying rack. We'll see.

31 Today!

Julie Beth, only a few hours old, 

March 3, 1980

I know, it's gastly - but here I am in all my 9 pounds 7 ounces of glory. My family called me watermelon head for some time. I am so grateful to my mom and dad for loving me tons, even with that mug.

More Kidspeak

Kate has been cracking me up and warming my heart with all her cute, audible thoughts.

On Monday, when Kate dressed so we could go to the bank and return our library books she put on a purple and black dress with black leggings and then orange and white striped socks. The color combination and style both contributed to a Halloween-looking theme. I commented on her sock choice.

"Katie, those socks don't really match."

"Actually, you don't have to match," was Kate's fashionista response.

"Oh," I responded, "Who taught you that?" (expecting her to mention her cousin, Sami, or some other friend of hers)

"A movie, I presume."

On Tuesday, she stayed home from preschool with a runny nose so I let her watch Dinosaur Train and Sesame Street. Later that evening, as we were preparing dinner, she put her finger on her chin and said...

"I have a hypothesis!"

"Oh, Really," I said, "And what is your hypothesis?"

"Dinosaurs come in different species."

"They do?" I question, wondering if she really understands what she is saying.

"Yes. There's the Pterodactyl and Tyrannosaurus Rex."

On Wednesday, I was making lunch for her and she was coloring away and she told me, "Did you know that you married a handsome Dad?"

I responded, "Yes, I did know that. Daddy is handsome, isn't he?"

"Yes," Kate agreed, "You should tell him that."

I agreed that I should tell him that he's so handsome.

Then Kate said, "By marrying a handsome Dad, you have a CUTE girl and Wa-la (Voila)!" (her hand gestures with her version of voila gave the impression that she realized that she is the end of a very good magic trick.)

Later on Wednesday, when her Daddy was home, Kate was telling him how wonderful I am - love that!

She said, "She's a lovely, pretty, twinkly-eyed mom!" Then she turned to me and said, "You should write that down!"

I love when Kate wants to show me something awesome and she says in her sing-song/near operatic voice, "Don-dan-a-la!"

I love when she hasn't had a purple vitamin in months because for months all she had were purple instead of the orange and red, so in consequence she had to have orange and red for months until finally a purple came out and she said, "Mmm, the purple tastes familiar."

And maybe these are all mundane little nothings but to me, this girl is pure sunshine. I'm glad I've had the opportunity to really listen to her and catch her darling little brain at work. I know all kids say amazing and adorable things but I just have my one little girl and I want to capture everything.