Christmas 2011 - Part 1

Christmas 2011 with my family has come and gone (we'll call it Christmas - Part 1), and it definitely wasn't as picturesque as I imagined. See a trend with me having these perfect images in my head and them just not coming to fruition? Ha! Shortly after our visit with Santa (which was Thursday), Sara Kate started running a fever and she got really lethargic. Chris wanted to go ahead and take her to the doctor since we were getting ready to go out of town. Sweet girl just wanted to cuddle and wanted absolutely nothing to do with being examined. She had a temperature of 101 and the doctor said her ears were red but he couldn't tell us much else because it was so early in the course of her sickness (like within 3 hours of her starting to run fever we were at the doctor). Since it was almost a holiday and we were leaving town, he went ahead and gave us a prescription for antibiotics just in case she got worse and we took it with us. Sara Kate did so great on our 8 hour trip to Alabama on Friday, but it was obvious she didn't feel good. Saturday she woke up again with fever and was just very lethargic so we decided to go ahead and get the prescription filled since it was day 3. On Christmas Day, she didn't have fever, but it was obvious she just didn't feel good. Poor baby. And then the diarrhea started...ughhh!! 2 days of that, plus the 3 days of fever made for just not the best Christmas! On top of being sick, she slept in her pack n play in our room and woke up every night crying between 1 and 3, she didn't know where she was so I put her in bed with us (she's never slept in bed with us). I learned she's a wiggle worm, plus I was nervous about her falling, so I didn't sleep much while we were there (and I see myself in all the pictures and think how awful and tired I looked!!). Other than not feeling well, she did GREAT at my grandmother's house (which is full of stairs and lots of breakable stuff, which made this mama very nervous!). When she was feeling ok, she had a blast playing with her older cousin Sara, who she met for the first time, and Sara was so good with our Sara Kate (yes, there is a Sara and a Sara Kate in my family...Sara is my youngest aunt's daughter and she's 7, and since we had Sara Kate's name picked out as our girl's name long before she was even a twinkle in her parents eye, we just rolled with it!). We made it home yesterday and she has seemed much better today, although she's been very fussy, which is just not her. She has her appetite back and is drinking more so that's good. Hopefully she's on the mend. I have to go back to work tomorrow and Friday, and Friday afternoon/evening we will celebrate Christmas with Chris' side of the family (we'll call that Christmas - Part 2!). Enjoy some pictures from our Christmas - Part 1!

Meeting Santa

We took Sara Kate to see Santa today. Last year we didn't take her anywhere to see him but we saw him down town at Lights of the Ozarks and had their picture taken with her in her stroller.

So this was her first time to 'visit' Santa. And to no one's surprise, she was NOT a fan!!! Poor Santa was even sad about it, ha!!!

We have many many more years of trying to get that perfect cute picture I have in my head of her on Santa's lap, but 2011 was definitely NOT the year for the perfect picture! :-)

Through the Eyes of a Child

When I picked Sara Kate up from school one day last week, they were decorating for Christmas. They were getting the Christmas tree to put up by the front door, they were getting the garland and wreaths out for the interior doors, and they have this blow up snow globe thing (like you see in people's front yard) that has a rotating Santa and a reindeer that they were getting ready to put up in the center open part of the building. It was something really similar to this...

Well, I just couldn't wait to take Sara Kate to school the next morning to see her reaction. I knew it would be the most adorable thing and I just knew her face would light up with joy and delight. The next morning we were running late (of all mornings), but I quickly signed her in, entered my security code, opened the door, and there it was, all blown up with Santa just a rotating. I looked down at Sara Kate...I looked at her face...it lit up with delight just like I figured it would...her smile of seeing that silly rotating Santa snow globe for the first time is something I'll never forget...she ran to it and just stared at it...she smiled a smile of pure unadulterated joy...and every time the reindeer would come around she would say 'ruff ruff' because she thought it was a dog. It was the absolute cutest, most precious thing I've ever seen. But in the anticipation of the moment, combined with our lateness, I left my phone in the car. So I missed the perfect opportunity to capture the moment. When I picked her up from school that day, I took my phone inside to snap a picture, knowing it wouldn't be the same reaction as that first glance, but still figuring she would have a look of amazement. And I was right. She just started at it, taking it in, trying to figure it out, still saying 'ruff ruff.'

I see those blow up snow globes or blow up Christmas decorations in people's yard and I laugh and think they're silly (sorry if that offends anyone reading this), but I will see them in a whole different light now. If we could all slow down and really take a look at our surroundings, we might just see things through the eyes of a child. We might just see the purity, the innocence, and the magic of it all.

20 Months

Sara Kate, you are 20 months old! What have you been up to??

(I can't believe you are 3/4 of the way to 2...where did my little baby go? And you posed just perfectly for your monthly photo shoot!!)
- You are still doing great at school during the day, but you have regressed quite a bit lately in your separation anxiety when I drop you off in the mornings. It started right after Thanksgiving and you just want to cling to me so tightly and you cry so hard when I pass you off. I know your teachers are good at redirection but it still makes me sad as I walk out of your classroom. You are so happy when you see me or daddy in the afternoon and you start acting so silly!

You haven't moved classes yet, but your best friend Grayson has and you girls miss each other (she's a month older than you). I saw her daddy a couple weeks ago right after she moved up and he asked me when you were moving up. He said that Grayson was sad and she didn't have any friends. Well a couple days later, Grayson's daddy was carrying her into school when I was taking you out of your car seat. You saw her and started pointing and saying 'Ga Ga Ga Ga,' over and over again. I realized you were pointing at Grayson so we went inside to say hi before you girls went to your separate rooms. You just waved at her and she smiled at you. One of your teachers saw the encounter and mentioned that you miss Grayson too and you will be back in the same room soon. I just wanted to write that down because it's so amazing that you already have friend connections at such a young age. This is a picture of you and Grayson from back in the summer.

- Your daily schedule looks a little something like this: I wake you up around 6:45 and get you dressed (lately you've been waking up right before I get to your room and you are just laying in your bed), and you get to school around 7:30. You have breakfast that I pack for you around 8:30 (a breakfast bar and yogurt) and you drink juice/water. You have lunch between 11 and 11:30 and you eat whatever they are having at school and you drink milk with lunch. You go down for a nap after lunch and it lasts between 11:30-1:30, usually about an hour and a half. After nap is snack time between 2-2:30, which is some kind of cracker, and you have water or milk with your snack. You get picked up between 4:30-5:30 and we head home!

- Dinner time is still hit or miss. One night recently you would only eat corn bread for dinner. Another night we had to pick out all the green beans out of the soup I made because that's all you wanted. Another night you at a whole piece of pizza plus half of another piece. Another night you only wanted cheese. Another night you ate your whole bowl of pasta. You love speghetti, anything in a tomato based sauce, apple sauce, yogurt, grapes, breakfast bars, cheese, cheese/grilled cheese sandwiches, cheerios, graham crackers, green beans, and any kind of bread. You are very into doing things yourself, and it's very messy but I know you have to learn!

- You have FINALLY decided to drink milk at home!!!!!! After you started drinking whole milk, we tried and tried to get you to drink it at home and you just wouldn't take it even though you would drink it at school. The pediatrician said it was ok since you were getting some at school and since you were eating other dairy products like yogurt and cheese. We finally quit buying it because you just wouldn't drink it. Over Thanksgiving, Pop thought you needed some milk so he bought some and you drank it!! And you've been drinking it ever since! You seem to love it!
- By the end of the day, you are exhausted. We start your bedtime routine around 7:30, we are sitting in your room rocking between 8-8:15, and you are asleep by 8:30. Until Thanksgiving, your sleep was just great. During Thanksgiving weekend, you started waking up with this horrible terrified cry, and it was a very different cry than your other cries. It was like you were so afraid all of a sudden and nothing but clinging to me would calm you down. We aren't sure if you were having nightmares or just woke up and realized all of a sudden you were afraid of the dark. After a couple nights of that, we started leaving the light in your room on low and you've done much better. You still wake up every couple of nights and cry for a minute but you go back to sleep quickly.

- You look like you have a mouth full of teeth now but not much has changed!! You have your 4 top teeth, your 4 bottom teeth, and your top left AND top right 2 year molars are almost all the way in. You were teething really bad working on those molars but things seemed to have slacked off for now.

- You love books, your puzzle, blocks, anything you can sort, stack, or organize, and any kind of push toy. On a recent play date with your friend Madelynn, you really liked pushing your dog around in her baby stroller. You are really good about cleaning up the toys and putting things away. When I say 'good girl' for putting everything away, you look so proud of yourself.

- You absolutely LOVE music!!! You love the piano (you've left sticky donut fingers on the piano at church!) and any of your toys with music. You are mesmerized by music on tv, like your Baby Einstein videos. You LOVE when we sign 'Head Shoulders Knees and Toes' and 'If Your Happy and You Know It.' You know all the motions to those songs and you sign 'more please' to do them over and over again.

- Even though you are talking up a storm, there's so much you say that we can't understand. You talk all the time, but the words you say regularly include mama, dada, cat, dog, duck, this, that, that one, more, hi, bye bye, night night, again, and all gone. Even though you aren't saying alot of words, you can communicate really well and let us know what you want to do. For example, if you want to read a book, you will get a book, motion for me or daddy to sit down, hand us the book, and motion for us to pick you up. You get frustrated sometimes trying to communicate with us, and it's usually during dinner time when you don't want what we are eating, you try telling me what you want, and I have no idea what you are saying.
- You are learning so much, and we just think you are so smart! You know how to give hugs and kisses (and it's so sweet)! You know where your head, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, and belly are! You know where the car is and what sound it makes! You can count to 2, and I think you know 3 and 4! You can make the sounds of a dog, cat, tiger, duck, and monkey, and you will repeat any other animal sounds we make! You know who mama, daddy, Meme, Poppa, Gran, Pop, Cody, Cora, and Kacie are and can point to them when we ask you where they are!
- You are wearing size 18 month clothes and can still wear some 12 month clothes. Your 18 month t-shirts are getting short in the torso, 18 month pants either fit fine or are too big, and 18 month dresses and tunic shirts fit you fine. You are wearing size 18 month pajamas.
- You are wearing size 4 diapers.
- You are wearing size 4 shoes.
- I already said it, but I can't believe you are getting close to 2 years old. You still look so young to me compared to your classmates but I think that's because you are petite and because you don't have alot of hair. You are at such a fun age right now, and we love watching you as you are constantly learning new things and as you take in the world around you. We are so blessed to have you as our little girl!