Sunday Morning Photos

....needing to put an updated family photo on the blog page. Since we are on our way to church this morning we decided to use the 10-second timer on the camera and try to get a non-moving, non-blurry photo. Here are some of the better shots from today, and we even managed to get one with the dogs too.

A Special Treat!

...asking Kate's teacher for some pictures of Kate at school. Today was a big day because her daddy took her to school as he went to work. I usually take her around 9 or 9:30 but she loves it so much that we decided not to delay getting her there today. We told her she was going to school and she starting trying to jump up and down.
Here are a few pictures of her at school. Can you tell how much she loves it? Most of the pictures were taken out on the portico. The teachers say that it is her absolute favorite place to be. Thanks to Tracey and Donna (her teachers) for these pictures!

My Big Girl

...Kate changing by the second. We went to Cracker Barrel a little over a week ago and to our surprise Kate started feeding herself with a fork. The next day we took some pictures of her doing it. It was totally out of the blue to us but I think she learned to do it at school.
Speaking of school...she LOVES it with her whole being. The first day was hard for me but after seeing how much she loves it I am now at peace with it. She sometimes cries when Michael picks her up because she is having so much fun playing. They spend a lot of time out on the portico and evidently it is her favorite place on earth. She's even making friends. We are truly blessed to have the chance to send Kate to such an amazing school. It was worth being on the waiting list so long (we got on the list when I was 6 weeks pregnant!).
Each day I am amazed at what she is doing. She can now say a bunch of words including ball, Bubba (that's what we call Stanley), bye bye, Papa, Momma, Daddy, Quack, Duck, and Granny! She's also using the sign language she is learning at school. For some reason today I am especially thankful to be her mommy. She is truly a miracle. I hope I get the chance to have more kiddos but if Kate is the only one I am blessed with then I at least know I got the creme of the crop!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

...the sun officially setting on our vacation (above picture is Canyon Lake, and this was the view from the parking lot of the condo we stayed in). We left Hill Country and drove back to the flat plains of Lubbock. Luckily we had a weekend to get unpacked and resettled before we started back to work today. It was a great weather weekend in Lubbock as it rained and never got above 70 degrees. I believe that's what people in other parts of America call "Fall." I think I remember that season from Kentucky. I did some research on google and apparently "Fall" or "Autumn" as it is also called is an actual season between the hot summer and the cold winter. Or, as our seasons in Lubbock are called, "Drought" and "Blizzard."

When we got back in town Kate had a present waiting from Aunt Kaci, which is the cute Pistol Pete shirt she's wearing below. I hope letting a natural born citizen of the state of Texas wear this shirt on OSU's game day wasn't the reason Houston won Saturday. In more Kate news, she has now started feeding herself with a fork, saying "quack" when she sees a duck or picture of a duck, and dancing for the fun of it. This is such a great age, we are having a blast watching her change each day. We wish we could keep her like this for a long time!

Here are some pics from the weekend...



this pose is what happens when you tell her "Guns Up," but I suppose it works for "Pistols Firin'" too.

Fancy Bovines and Prosit!

...a trip to Houston during our vacation for Kate's 6-month follow up eye appointment. Surprisingly there is not much on the 180 mile trip between San Marcos and Houston, but we did make a pit stop to tour the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, the home of Shiner beers. Unfortunately the next tour did not start for another hour-and-a-half after we arrived, so we visited the gift shop, took some pictures, and left to beat the Houston rush hour traffic. Kate had a good check-up with the ophthalmologist. Her good eye has not changed much since the last visit, so the doctor wants to do another full exam with her in 6 months when he believes we will know more about surgical options. Apparently the next 6 months will determine a lot about her eye disorder. She also got to see the fancy, rhinestoned, dancing cows at Texas Children's again, which she loved...again. After her eye appointment on Thursday morning we headed back to San Marcos for one more night before heading back to Lubbock. We have some more pictures to post in the next couple of days too to finish up our trip!




Don't worry, the cup was empty

Hill Country Flower Garden

...taking my mom to the Wildseed Farm. Of course she loved it but she loved these pictures of Kate more. Michael is getting pretty good with his fancy camera. Here are some shots from our short visit to the wild flower store and gardens just out of Fredericksburg. We love it there.

The Salt Lick

...our fascination with the Food Network. We have seen several specials on the Salt Lick barbecue joint in Driftwood, Texas, but have never made it there until this vacation. It was Amanda's Aunt Nancy's birthday and so almost the whole family from Austin and San Antonio met up together (with us in tow) to celebrate at Salt Lick. Oh man, words cannot describe the pork ribs or the sausage, so I won't even try. By the way, we learned Kate loves pork ribs. The atmosphere was a blast and it looked like the parking lot to an amusement park, not a restaurant, but they moved people in and out pretty quickly. Kate met some family members she had never seen before, and she really loved Jackson and Henry (two of Uncle Mike & Aunt Nancy's grandsons). The little boy holding Kate in the picture below is Jackson.


This is not the restaurant...this is the area where you wait to get to go eat in the restaurant. Yeah, there were that many people there.


Part of the family


Kate and her new buddy Jackson. Jackson fed Kate so many raisins yesterday we are still seeing there effects today...I'll leave it at that.