Hello Spring!

Wow, what a difference a month makes!  As soon as the calendar changed to March, the weather started getting warmer.  It's been in the 60's or 70's most days this month.  Mommy and Kara have been taking advantage of the warm weather.  We hooked up the bike trailer and have been exploring the city.  Mommy and Kara also went down to the Denver zoo one day with Kara's friend Corabelle. a Kara has been having a lot of fun with gym classes and art classes.

On a less happy note, we found out that Kara is allergic to peanuts.  While eating a dinner with some peanut butter in it, Kara's hands broke out in hives.  About a week later, Mommy and Kara headed to an allergist where it was confirmed.  It's possible Kara will grow out of the allergies, but Mommy and Daddy are going to have to keep a close eye on what she's eating.

Kara Quotes:

"I want a garden with tomato plants like Eli [a little boy down that lives down the street] does.  I don't have tomato plants yet!"

"I never do anything I want to do" - and so it begins....

Link to pictures

Snow, snow, and more snow

We've been getting more snow this year than we got last year.  Daddy went to Denmark for two weeks in January and was greeted with two feet of snow when he got home.  Kara also got a bad stomach bug early this month, followed by a cold (with Mom and Dad).  Between getting sick, the snow, and the cold weather, Mommy and Kara have been spending a lot of time indoors.  We're all ready for Spring!

We finally buckled down and got serious about potty training this  past weekend.  So far it's been working out really well.  She's only had a couple little accidents since then and will actually initiate going to the potty these days.  We're so proud of her!

Kara is starting to speak in complete, (mostly) grammatically correct sentences, like, "Can I come along?" or "I will put on my shoes and then we go out to eat."  It's amazing how fast she's growing up.

Some quotes from Kara:
• "What's that?" - Kara's favorite question, she asks at least 100 times a day
• "Yum, oranges.  They're my favorite."
• "I'm going to go pee pee in potty.  I be so proud of me."
• "Can I go shopping?"
• Daddy to Kara - "Where was Kara born?"  Kara - "In South Ta-ta-lina" (she still refers to herself as Ta-ta)

Link to pictures

Big Girl Bed!

This past Friday we converted Kara's crib into a big girl bed!  We did this after Kara showed us how she could climb in and out of her crib (which she did about 4 times one morning).  Mommy and Daddy talked up the big girl bed and told Kara about all her friends that had big girl or big boy beds.  Kara was very excited about her new bed and has showed it to everyone that's come over since!

Mommy and Daddy are continuing potty training.  We think Kara understands what it means to go to the potty, and she can usually tell us when she is going pee pee or poo poo; however, she is still resisting using the potty.  We may have a strong-willed  little girl on our hands...

Some recent Kara quotes:
• "How cool is that?" - Kara
• "Oooh, I love crackers.  Mmmmm, delicious!"
• Kara enjoys singing "Hey Diddle Diddle" - check out the video!

Link to pictures

Link to Kara singing "Hey Diddle Diddle

Christmas 2011

Christmas was a lot of fun this year with Kara.  We got about a foot of snow a couple of days before the big day, so we got to experience our first White Christmas with Kara.  She more or less understood what was going on and got very excited about her presents.

Kara's big gift this year was a play kitchen complete with all kinds of play food, plates, pans, and cups.  Kara was so excited about the kitchen that she barely gave the big Mickey that Mommy bought (and we were sure she would be really excited about) a second look.

It was quite a full house with Mimi (aka Grandma H), Grandpa H., Grandma S., Grandpa S., Uncle Trey, Aunt Amy, GG K, and Great Grandma S. all coming over for Christmas day. While we were opening presents, Kara, Uncle Trey, and Aunt Amy would pick out presents to open from under the tree and Kara would deliver the present.  Kara got a kick out of guessing what the present was before it was opened, but if she couldn't figure it out, she'd say, "I don't know what that is."  It was Mommy and Daddy's first time hosting Christmas.  All in all, we think it was a successful Christmas and a good time was had by all.

Other than Christmas, we had quite an eventful month.  The week before Christmas, Cousin Travis stopped by on his trek from Indiana to California.  He and GG K came over for lunch one day and had fun hanging out with Kara.

Mimi, Grandpa H., and Uncle Trey flew in from Alabama on the 22nd.  Unfortunately, that was also the day the snow decided to come.  We had about a foot of snow on the ground that morning (Daddy got stuck getting out of the driveway), and it continued to snow until early in the afternoon.  We were getting a little worried that the flights would all get delayed or cancelled, but everyone eventually got here.  Once they were here, the snow ended up being pretty fun.  Grandpa H. and Uncle Trey had fun playing with Kara in the snow.  We also headed to Downtown Louisville and enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride around town.

The day after Christmas, Uncle Trey headed back to Alabama.  Unfortunately, he missed a visit from Cousin Brad, Maggie, Cousin Cassie, and Scot.  They stopped by on their way to visiting some family up in northern Colorado.  They didn't get to stay long, but it was great to see them.

We could almost write an entire blog post just filled with Kara quotes.  It seems like she comes up with something new and funny every day.  Here are a few selected quotes:
• "Very hot, let it cool down." - Telling Mommy she needs to let her spicy Thai food cool down a bit.
• "Let's do this." - Asking Mommy to dance.
• "That's pretty loud" - Kara shouting as she shakes a bell
• "Ta-ta new kitchen.  Ta-ta love cook!" - Telling Grandma S. about her new kitchen on Christmas Day
• "Ta-ta eat booger" - Kara's first words to Mommy one day
• "I have Fifi ... he love Ta-ta."
• "Thank you, Mr. Fifi, he a good helper." After getting Fifi to help open the door (Mommy really opened it)
• "Fifi, he inside dog"
• "I love Fifi!"
• Holding Fifi over the railing, Kara said, "he looks downstairs... nothing there."

Link to pictures from Christmas Day


And here are some pictures from the rest of December

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

It is definitely starting to look a lot like Christmas around here.  Mommy, Daddy, and Kara got the Christmas tree set up (Kara insisted on putting the star on top) the weekend after Thanksgiving.  The week after Thanksgiving, we got about 8 inches of snow in a storm and then another 5 inches of snow a couple of days later.  It's also gotten quite chilly the last couple of days.  The high today was about 10 deg F.  Kara has enjoyed playing in the snow (when it was warm enough to play outside).

Some recent Kara quotes:

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, Mommy asked Kara if she wanted some pumpkin pie for dessert after dinner.  Kara immediately replied, "Pumpkin pie and ice cream," with a big smile on her face.

During a recent snow day, Kara got a little tired of hanging out in the house with Mommy. So, after lunch Kara got her library bag out, put it around her neck and over her shoulder and said, "Goodbye. Ta-ta go see people, put shoes on".

When Daddy says "Night night," Kara replies with the proper "Good night".

Link to pictures