Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa H!

Kara got to spend a week playing with Grandma and Grandpa H.  She had a great time being loved on and opening presents.  She's also started babbling more in the last week.  More people to listen to her, I guess!

Kara's newest things (Maybe we'll get pictures of these later...):
- Kara enjoys reading books while we're changing diapers. She also enjoys reading while making the mess in her diapers, but that's not so new (but equally funny).
- Kara likes to put balls and small toys in the Bumbo and then sit down on them. It's like she's trying to hatch something!
- Mommy and Daddy have been reading "Goodnight Moon" as Kara's last bedtime book for some time.  Daddy (and Mommy when she puts Kara to bed) has started adding "Goodnight Kara" with a kiss at the end.  Occasionally, Kara would kiss back when she felt like it.  Well, this week she has started offering kisses in the middle of the book to tell Mommy and Daddy she's done with whatever book is being read and is ready to be put to bed.  She does this for naps and bedtime.  We think she's quite hilarious.

Link to pictures

Christmas 2010!

This Christmas was certainly much, much more exciting than last Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa H. flew in from Alabama to enjoy Christmas with Kara (more on their visit in the next blog entry), and Cousin Jennifer, Cousin Travis, Uncle Archie, and Bonnie flew in from California. It was quite a full house at Grandma and Grandpa S.'s house for Christmas. Kara certainly enjoyed the presents and all the attention she got!

Unfortunately, we didn't get any snow for Christmas. Our family and friends in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky enjoyed a white Christmas, but we didn't a single flake here in Colorado. Maybe next year...

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Kara's December Adventures

Kara is constantly exploring her world and getting into mischief. One day, when Mommy was getting something out of the fridge, Kara grabbed an apple. Mommy was curious what Kara would do with it and let Kara gnaw on it for a while. In the end, Kara didn't really eat much of it, but she did enjoy chewing off pieces of the apple.

We have gotten almost no snow so far this winter in CO. We got a small storm last week that left about half an inch of snow on the ground. Mommy got Kara all dressed up in her snow outfit and played in the snow for a bit. Hopefully next time we'll get enough snow for Kara to make a snowman.

We're hoping this Christmas will be A LOT more fun than last Christmas.

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Holiday fun

Kara spent Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa S.'s house.  Grandma and Grandpa had all their Christmas decorations out. Kara particularly enjoyed playing with Grandma's Hallmark singing snowman. We showed Kara how to push the button and make them sing. She couldn't get enough of it!

Kara had her one-year check-up with her doctor the week after her birthday. Our girl is very long and lean. Basically, Kara is always on the move - walking around and climbing on everything.

Grandpa H. had a meeting in Colorado Springs last week and was able come visit us for a day.  He had a good time hanging out with Kara and enjoyed playing with her in the park. After dinner, we tried to hang out downtown to see the Parade of Lights.  Unfortunately, the parade didn't start when they were supposed to (at 6:00), and we had to leave without seeing them to get Kara home in time for bedtime.

Tonight, we went to "Dessert and a Story with Santa" at the Louisville Rec Center. Um, we're going to put that in the category of "It seemed like a good idea at the time." They had some temporary tattoos, cookies, and hot chocolate. We tried to get a tattoo on Kara's cheek, but that didn't work out too well. Kara did nibble on a couple of cookies. She also sat pretty still for Santa while he read "The Night Before Christmas". She was even fairly patient while we waited in line to sit on Santa's lap; however, the actual visit with Santa did not go well. Kara sat there for about two seconds before tears started rolling down her cheeks and she started crying. We'll have to try that again next year...

Link to pictures