Worth the wait...FamilyTies,Flowers,Fashion,MissIndependent,SummerLovin,& aCheckUp

So my every few day updates turned into a week. I'd like to update often but for those of you who know me well, you know that I am constantly juggling about 12 different balls at once (although aren't we all?). So the reason for my delay is a good one...I've been scrap booking. I love that Kate will hopefully be able to look back at this when she's older as an electronic scrapbook but I'm a sucker for the old school scrapbooks with all the cute stickers, funny expressions, and creative design. I did a pretty good job of scrapbooking for Kate after she was born (I think I started when she was about a week old) but lost my momentum once I went back to work. Now, I have a school years worth of pictures to get caught up on before the next school year. Its a lot of work but its definitely a labor of love...I really hope Kate will love it.

Anyhow, here are some of the family shots I got from when we were in New Jersey. When it came to seeing the Crochetiere side, I had so much fun catching up with cousins I had not seen in 5 and even 10 years that I did an awful job of getting pictures. Fortunately I know most of them did better than me at taking pictures so I'm hoping and waiting to get most of my pictures from them. :o> Visiting with my mom's family later in the week was a little more calm so I did snag a few pictures.

Kate running happy with her milk, I love my grandma in the back trying to catch one of Kate's inevitable falls. :o> Thanks Great Helen!

Kate being posed for a picture with Great Fred. My mom was in HEAVEN beeming with grandma pride showing off HER Kate to her parents! Great Helen and Fred last saw Kate at her baptism...she has grown SO much since then!

That night the whole family went out to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary (how amazing is that!). Thank goodness for my mom and dad, Francisco and I actually got to get some food down with their help entertaining Kate.

When we got home from our wonderful trip we were welcomed by our beautiful blooming flower bed in the back yard! I can't take any credit for it because it was planted before we bought our house. Francisco mulches it for me every year and set up a great boarder, my only contribution is weeding it and I actually like doing that (wierd right). These are a few pictures we got of Kate enjoying the flowers!

Here are a few of my favorite summer outfits on Kate since we've been home... (don't worry, there will be lots more. Francisco reminds me that she's not a doll but man its fun dressing her up!)


She refused to take out her toothbrush for this picture. Little Miss Independant is an understatement most days!

Speaking of independant...

And more independance...

Yes, she goes up the ladder all by herself. Of course Francisco and I stand right behind her in case she slips but that is rare. The biggest deal is getting her to "sit" to go down the slide. She also will run from the slide to the ladder again when she gets to the bottom but will stop to remind us that her steps are dirty, so we brush them off, and then she climbs. SUCH a priss pot!

Here are some pics from Kate's favorite thing these days(and mine too)...her pool! Thanks Tia Mona!

Believe it or not, we've actually enjoyed all 3 of us in the pool! Of course Marley is always near by but in the shade. She prefers to supervise pool activity and only visits for the occassional drink of water.

Kate had her 15 month check up yesterday. She is starting to recognize where she is at when we get to the office. You can tell by this picture with Nurse Ashley (I love that we have the same nurse every visit :>). Yep, she's the poor lady that has to give Kate her shots.

This is Dr. Carey! She has been Kate's doctor since we were in the hospital. She is VERY nice and gave Kate an EXCELLENT report yesterday. Kate is still a wiz with her giant vocabulary, ran all OVER the office during her visit, pointed to most the parts of her face in English and Spanish (she got over it pretty quick so we couldn't get them all), and even attempted to "jump" for Dr. Carey when we asked her to (at this point its a squat but she's trying)! We were so worried about Kate's brain development when she was born because of her Thyroid but Dr. Carey has been very positive through it all and I feel so much better about it as Kate gets bigger. I'm so proud of my big girl. :o>

As always, I hope to update more often but I'm splitting my time when Kate goes to bed between scrapbooking and the blog so there may be a few more big gaps but I hope not. :o> Thanks for checking up on my little angel. Much love always ~Michele