Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Turkey Day! We arrived here in VA just before noon, just in time to see Santa make his appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Katherine enjoyed thanksgiving dinner, scarving down turkey, mashed potatoes, corn casserole and green beans. I'm not too sure about the pumpkin pie though, she had a few bites but didn't seem all that enthrawled with it.

Ted and I are headed out early tomorrow to NJ! It sounds like Miss K. is going to have a wonderful weekend with Papa and Gram Coberly. There are preliminary plans to attend a parade tomorrow and a possible trip up to DC on Saturday! Looks like she is going to have the run of the house!

Public Service Announcement

For those who like holiday specials as much as I do!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on tonight! 8pm on ABC. It will also repeat again on Thursday night. Miss K. and I will be watching tonight! In fact if you look on the left hand side of the ABC site it also tells you when are other specials are going to be airing, we're almost full swing into that time of year! I know you can buy most of these on DVD now but as I've said before, there is something special about watching it the night it is on TV.

We've taken a step backwards in potty training. Katherine was doing wonderfully but now she wants nothing to do with the potty when we're at home. We encourage and remind her constantly. I should say almost nothing to do with the potty because last night she refused to use the potty, waited until I got a fresh pull up on her and her pjs and then announced that, yes, she was going to go and use the potty. As if to tell us, I'll let you know when I'm good and ready to use the potty.

Snow!

Katherine and I woke up to a snow shower on Friday morning. I pulled up her shades and grabbed her to see what was going on. She was mesmerized and once we went downstairs she was running from window to window going "Look Mommy, snow!". I new it wouldn't last and since snow is a relatively rare event in this area (by rare I mean we get only a couple of small storms a year) I immediately asked her if she wanted to go outside and run around a bit. Her response "Outside!!" So we ate a quick breakfast and then bundle up. I knew nothing would really stick to the ground but I thought she would enjoy trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. Check her out all bundled up.

Besides that, we took it easy this weekend. Katherine was still recovering a bit from being sick and I have a touch of it today myself, although nothing too bad. The other bugs were DEFINITELY worse. I did some Christmas prep, got the decorations down, put up the lights outside and got out the North Pole Village. This set belonged to my Grandma and little by little its making its way to us here in NC. I thought Miss K. might get excited to see a little Santa's Village right here in her own house. I think for my first time, I did pretty good. I put it up on the ledge in the foyer to prevent sticky fingers from getting to it. She enjoys looking at it from the top of the stairs and saying "Pole!"

I also checked out the Department 56 North Pole collection website to see what is currently available for the set. Fun to look at but I don't think I'll be adding anything new right now, there's still another 5-6 houses to come down from my Grandma's house and join the ones I already have. That should fill up the ledge nicely. I did however spy this. He he!

You Suggest, I Haul...

After K. finally fell asleep for her nap (more on that later) I set to work rearranging the living room furniture per Bryn's suggestion. Unfortunately the loveseat is too big to fit where the Korean bar is (called the Korean bar because Ted's parents bought it when they were in South Korea and it actually folds out to become a dry bar) but the other arrangement worked. Here are the results:
There is something cute about it and I have told myself that I will live with it until tomorrow. I am thinking it will be a good arrangement for after Christmas, however, I don't think it will stay for Christmas (sorry Bryn). Reason is pure logistics, I don't think our tree will fit in that space by the front window. We have an artificial tree and I lost all complete sense of space when I was in Michael's buying it, its huge. I love that its big but there's no way its going in the middle of the front window without the person sitting on that end of the couch feeling as if they were sitting IN the Christmas tree. So back to the drawing board!

A Furniture Dilemma

We had an unexpected wake up at 2:30 this morning. Poor Miss K. had thrown up. We've become real experts at this, so we went right to action with the clean up, I got Katherine in a nice warm tub while Ted stripped her bed. We were lucky, the damage was not too bad and even better there was no lingering smell for this episode (God I hate that smell). Of course after the bath (and another episode in the tub) K. was wide awake so I stayed up with her for a bit for some late night Noggin and Andy Pandy action. I'm home with her today as well. Right now the plan is for me to go into work tomorrow instead of today since tomorrow was my day off and for K. to go back to preschool, provided she feels better. However, I am watching things closely, I have a feeling Miss K. and I will be making a trip to work after her nap to pick up some things for me to work on some from home tomorrow instead.

For those that are checking their calendars, you may notice that we're exactly a week away from Thanksgiving and about a year ago Miss K. had the same sort of ailment. I was blessed to come down with it myself right on Thanksgiving Day (after dinner but BEFORE pumpkin pie). In fact, this family (primarily me) was sick for every major holiday the last go around (I'm talking T-day, Christmas AND Easter). We're are hoping that we don't have a repeat this year, so we'll be taking it easy over the next week to ensure we are all healthy not only for T-day but also for Kristen's wedding next Saturday! Katherine won't be travel to the wedding but instead spending the weekend with Papa and Gram Coberly.

This weekend won't go by without a little Christmas preparation however. I am going to put our outside lights up. I was hoping for a warmer weekend to do this but I don't think that's going to happen. We won't turn them on until after T-day however, this is the best opportunity to get it done, since we won't be home from our travels until the Monday after T-day. I also plan on getting the decorations down from the attic and just stacking them in the guest bedroom. With a toddler in the house I've learned that decorating takes place little by little over a couple of days rather than one big gusto. So this way I'll be all prepared to start as soon as we get home.

Which leads me to the following question: Where to put our Christmas tree this year? Traditionally for the last 4 Christmases in the house we've put the tree in the open spot right next to the fireplace:This place is easy because it requires no rearranging of furniture. However Ted has always mentioned that it would nice if we could put our tree in our front window. For the past 4 years I've told him that we can put the tree where ever he wants provided he moves the furniture. So the tree has always stayed in the same spot. Last weekend though, I was sitting in the living room thinking that maybe it was time to move things around. I love rearranging furniture but our house offers little options in some of the rooms as far as furniture placement goes. See the pictures of our living room below (sorry that they came out kind of dark, they don't do the wall color justice at all):
I've tried to arrange them so that your going around the room in a circle. As you can see three of the walls have big windows and one has three doorways. Then there's the location of the fireplace. That really limits furniture placement. So a challenge to all of our readers out there. Figure out a way to arrange our furniture so that the Christmas tree fits in our front window that also is aesthetically pleasing (I'm not putting furniture just anywhere). Or come up with another alternative place for the Christmas tree. I would probably move the furniture around this weekend in preparation.

Pictures!

Katherine pulled a chair right over to the kitchen counter tonight to help Daddy make dinner. Actually, she was more interested in picking the craisins out of the salad (note to us: add craisins to the next grocery order).

This weekend I spent some time scanning in some pictures of Ted when he was little. His parents had brought down a big box of old pictures for us to sort through and scan what we like. I love looking through old pictures. Here are some of my favorites. I say some because when I tried to pick out just one for this post I couldn't, there were too many and I couldn't resist. Here's Ted and his sister Carrie:

This next one I like because there is a definite resemblance to Katherine when she was a baby.

And I think one of my all time favorites is this picture of Ted's Dad visiting Santa Claus. The sleeve it came in says "Christmas 1951". The picture was taken in Seattle.Speaking of Christmas, things are starting to gear up around here. I was working on this year's Christmas card tonight. Only five weeks left, give or take, before the Big Guy makes his appearance! And for those that don't know, I LOVE Christmas so expect alot of Christmas themed posts!

Only I Didn't Say Fudge...

Katherine knows all of the animal sounds. Ask her what a dog says and she'll quickly respond "Woof! Woof!". A cat... "Meow!" A duck..."Quack Quack!" Even a pig gets a snort. Katherine also knows what a frog says. In fact, the last couple of nights this has been a favorite. Except when she says the word frog it doesn't exactly sound like frog. It sounds like another four letter word that begins with F. THE WORD. The F dash dash dash word.

Our jaws dropped the first time we heard it and we didn't realize until she cutely went "Ribbitt!" that she was actually saying the word frog. The shock was still the same when she said it again last night. She has a frog bath towel/poncho with a little hood that has frog eyes and a mouth on it. Last night she was running around pretending to be a frog, which was adorable actually. We're trying to correct her pronunciation by saying "fffrrrroooooggggg" after we hear her say it.

We're waiting for the call from preschool..."Do you know what your daughter said today?"

Back in the Groove

After 5 days off (4 days for Ted) we are back into our routine. We had a wonderful visit with my parents over the weekend and Ted had a great visit in West Virginia. Didn't know he was going? We were unable to post about it since the reason for the trip was to attend a surprise 80th birthday party for his Grandma in Grantsville. I purposely did not post over the weekend because, well, I knew I would let something slip and give it away. However Ted reports (and Grandma Hamilton confirmed on Sunday night) that she was completely surprised.

So while Ted was partying in West Virginia, Miss K. and I enjoyed the company of Grandma and Grandpa Meagher. One of the things I was eagerly waiting for as Katherine grew was discovering what she would call her Grandmas and Grandpas. I didn't think that this was anything we could pick out for her, it would be something that she would let us know in time. As I reported in an earlier post, when I mentioned that Grandma and Grandpa were coming to visit, her response was "Papa!" Well, the name has stuck, Katherine called for "Papa" all weekend. Now not to be outdone, my Mom started to work on "Grandma" and K. responded (with a bit of prodding) with "Gram". So there you have it...Papa and Gram! We'll be seeing Ted's parents in two weeks, over Thanksgiving (can you believe its in two weeks???), so we will see if they will be Papa and Gram as well! I am pretty sure Papa will stay but Gram might need some more reinforcing.

Among the activities this weekend was K's first jump in a leaf pile:

And a visit to the Children's Museum:
I promise, I am getting started on the next photo album, it should be out by the end of this weekend!

It's Friday!

Katherine and I have a busy day of errands ahead of us, starting with an oil change for the car at 9. I've packed up her backpack with books, toys and snacks. Right now however, we're easing into the day, she is watching Sesame Street with her thumb in her mouth. Every so often, you will see her doing this, I am wondering if she'll pick up the thumb sucking habit now that the pacifier is severly limited (ok, we relented a bit on that one but she only gets it right at bedtime for a bit. She was getting addicted to the TV to put her to sleep and between those two choices, I'll take the pacifier at bedtime for a bit longer).

Grandma and Grandpa Meagher are on their way down tomorrow for a long weekend visit! Miss K. and I will be picking them up at the airport midday. In preparation for the visit, I've been having Katherine practice saying Grandma and Grandpa. Previously she used "Ga Ca" to say Grandma or Grandpa, with really no distinction between the two. However, a couple of days ago I asked her to say Grandpa and she replied with a distinct "Pa PAAA!" So I think her Grandpas might be called PaPa for a while! I was going to call my Dad at work this morning and have her say "Hello Papa!" but of course she isn't talking right now (I'll keep trying Dad!). No luck yet with Grandma (sorry Grandmas!).

Vote!

Ok, so no big updates today on the homefront, we're in the middle of a pretty typical week. Although, the rubber bands in Katherine's hair are working quite well. Still need to get a picture, but trust me it is adorable.

My point in posting is to tell everyone to vote today. If you've already done so, great! If you haven't, what are you waiting for? This is our day to have a say in what goes on, please take the opportunity!

VOTE!

Play Doh!

Not only did Aunt Carrie bring Miss K. a Hello Kitty Trick or Treat bag, it was also filled with goodies! Among the coloring book and markers (washable!) there was a small set of Play Doh. This was Katherine's first foray into the world of Play Doh, I had tried to make some edible stuff based on recipe I saw on Jon and Kate Plus 8 but it came out incredibly greasy and K. was not all that impressed. Not so with the real stuff! She set to work smooshing and rolling. Aunt Carrie joined in the fun as well! The cutest part was hearing K. say "Tank Oooo Aunt Cah-weee!"
On Saturday morning we all headed over to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Ted and Carrie went to see the exhibit and Miss K. and I explored the rest of the museum. We weren't sure how K. would handle exhibit and it turns out strollers weren't allowed in there (don't get me started on that one, it was the same thing for the Monet exhibit at the NC Museum of Art when K. was a mere 6 weeks old and sound asleep in her infant car seat...way to be family friendly). Plus my parents are coming down next weekend and I know they really want to see it as well, so I figured I would have an opportunity next weekend. So Miss K. checked out fish, turtles, bugs and butterflies and had a blast. Here we are having fun!As you can see, Katherine's bangs are getting to be quite long and are in that awkward stage where they are constantly falling in her eyes. Barrettes only last so long before they get pulled out so I purchased some small rubber bands (ouch less of course) that I am hoping will work to keep them pulled back. We won't comment on my flat hair in that picture...we are hoping K. gets Daddy's curls!

Trick or Treat!

Katherine had her first official trick or treat last night! She caught on to the concept right away, when we left our house it was as if she'd been doing it for years. Aunt Carrie brought her a Hello Kitty treat bag to collect all of the goodies in. It coordinated nicely with the costume. We only went to a handful of neighbor's houses however, Miss K came home with quite a stash. She definitely had the cuteness factor working for her!

The party at preschool was a success as well, lots of goodies. The kids also went trick or treating at the pediatrician's office next door (the daycare is co-located with her pediatrician). We heard from her teachers that all the doctors and nurses thought Katherine was the cutest little thing, especially with the tail.

After we got home from trick or treating in the neighborhood, she spent some time checking out her loot. And she kept a tight grip on that loot, when it was time for bed, she gathered it up and took it to bed with her! No one was getting their hands on her candy! Mom was sure to remove it after she had fallen asleep.