Tractors and Tattoos

As I have said in earlier posts, Kate loves John Deere, thanks to the Uebinger side of the family. She has John Deere toys, onesies, and even a mini-tractor to ride! When Greg and I went to over to our friends' house the other night, Katie was delighted to find some of these familiar toys to play with. She rolled the tractors around for most of the evening and was completely happy doing it. Our friends have a son who is a year older than Kate, and he showed her what a tattoo is. Kate, mom, and dad all got one. Needless to say, none of our tattoos lasted all that long, but Katie was sure interested in hers for the few moments it was on!

- Steph

Crazy Hair

One of the things I love about our daycare center is that I really believe Katie's teachers care about her. They are always thrilled to see her in the morning, and half the time, she can't wait to jump from my arms into theirs. I look at this as a positive thing; she obviously loves spending time there. Who wouldn't want to play with friends all day? Often, Katie comes home with much cooler hair than she leaves our house with. I mean, I can barely get my own hair together in the morning, so I am definitely not concentrating much on Kate's. The teachers will put her hair up in all kinds of ways, and this is the most recent hairstyle. I love it, especially in the pictures at the bottom, after we took it out. She looks like a little mad scientist, which Greg is thrilled about. In the last picture, you can see the look on her face that says she's going to regret this photo in a few years!

- Steph

Fancy Girl

Last weekend, Greg's youngest brother, John, got married to his fiancee, Emily. We had such a good time celebrating with the Uebinger family. Greg and I were asked to be a part of the wedding party, so my mom and dad watched Kate during the festivities. There was only one minor problem during the ceremony. My parents had Katie in the cry room of the church during most of the mass, and at one point, Greg and I heard her crying. We heard her while we were sitting at the front of the church. We gave each other sidelong glances across the aisle, but there was nothing we could do. I am pretty sure the bride and groom would have noticed a missing groomsman or bridesmaid. My parents made the executive decision to take her out of church completely and bring her to the reception hall, which was thankfully right across the parking lot. I think she is the only kid ever to have been kicked out of a cry room. That was the only minor problem in what was otherwise a wonderful weekend. Katie looked cute as a bug in all her pretty dresses. She was smiling, giggling, and charming everyone most of Friday night at the rehearsal dinner and then during the wedding and reception on Saturday.  She is such a ham! 

-Steph

Playdate

Recently, Katie and I went on a playdate with the kids of several of my teacher friends. Katie had a blast playing with the other kids. It got a little crazy and loud, since there was a total of ten kids (!) for my six friends who were there. On the way over to my friend Becky's house (some of you may remember her as the girl who sang karaoke at our wedding) I talked to Kate about behavior and being nice. She clearly didn't listen, since I spent the whole time giving toys back to other kids and calming down the nearest child she decided to pick on. She took John Deere tractors away from the boys, pacifiers from the girls, and chattered louder than all of us moms! I think we may have a bully on our hands. I wonder where she gets it from?

Here she is by herself, where she can't terrorize any other children.

Here Katie is sitting next to Ashlyn, my friend Dana's little girl. She kept taking Ashlyn's pacifier and then getting bored. Look at her expression! She's like, "Whatever. I'm bored." I am sure this will be the face that Greg and I see when she turns 16.

 Finally, she is sitting next to some other kids for a couple of good photos. See how cute she can be when she behaves?

- Steph