Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday this year, Keith took the day off and took Kate and me to the Animal Kingdom at Disney World. Since Kate is obsessed with animals, this was a fantastic day. She was thrilled to see the....everything! The highlight of the day was definitely the hippo. While the hippo was pooping, it wasn't obvious to the innocent eyes of our daughter; however, in follow-up conversations after the fact, she caught on that the hippo was pooping. Now, when she sees a picture of a hippo or we say "hippo," she immediately says poo poo! And, in her advanced state, can even spell p-o-o, p-o-o (this is because mommy thought spelling at the dinner table would keep her from knowing what we were talking about. Ha, joke's on me).

It was a cool day, but a beautiful day, despite the amazing crowds. We managed to see the safari (Kate really enjoyed the bumpy ride), we walked through the Africa trail, ate lunch at our favorite watering hole, Dawas Bar, and then caught the Lion King show. Kate didn't want anything to do with walking up and touching or hugging the characters, but she was perfectly happy pointing them all out from afar. Good for us...less lines that way! After the Lion King show, we went to DinoLand and rode the dumbo like triceratops. Kate enjoyed it very much, though is not talking about it and is still obsessed with Dumbo.

On the way home, both Keith and Kate fell asleep while the birthday girl drove home. We stopped off at our favorite restaurant to pick up take out and head home. While Kate and I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Keith decorated and put out dinner.

Kate said happy birthday to me all day long. There is nothing quite like hearing your baby say something so sweet to you. She helped Keith to sing happy birthday and watched me open my gift, a beautiful necklace. Now, when she sees my necklace, she says, happy birthday. And, she is in love with birthdays. She knows that with birthdays comes balloons, cake and presents...what fun!

Happy New Year!

This year we spent New Year's with our play group friends. These are the ladies who I met (mostly) during the breastfeeding luncheons oh so many moons ago. While some of us work and some of us stay home, and we are all very different, we have managed to stick together and play together. The husbands haven't become best buddies, yet, but they seem to enjoy each other's company nonetheless!

The kids had a great time (and so did we!). We left at 9:00p or so in order to get Kate to bed at a somewhat decent hour and give Keith and me plenty of time to rock out with the new Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

We missed ringing in the new year with our dear pals Faith and Chris, but with Faith expecting baby boy Lee, she wasn't much in the mood for partying. ;-) It was only the 2nd time in about 6 years we weren't together.

Here's to our 9th year of marriage and our third year as a family!

Merry Christmas!

We hosted Thanksgiving and since then, life has been a whirlwind. Kate caught a cold just after Thanksgiving which delayed the Christmas card picture (see picture to the left). Notice that amazing smile? When I (playing Santa) handed her this pretend plate of milk and cookies, Kate about bursted out of her chair with excitement...cookie? I can have a cookie???? Notice how she is grabbing it? Once she realized it was glued to the plate, the photo shoot was over. Note to self: bring cookies next year. BTW, no picture with Santa this year. Despite the fact that she adores him, talks about him and plays with stuffed santa regularly...she will not sit on his lap and cries the moment she is placed near "him."

I still managed to get the cards out in time, but not without staying up until the wee hours of the a.m.

Kate recovered from her cold slightly for a few days and then was sick again. She seemed to be recovering, then spiked a random fever the week before Christmas. I took her to the doctor for the second time and again, no sign of infection. Almost a week later, the day before Christmas Eve, Kate spiked a fever that she kept until Christmas night. It was the first time she ever had a fever for more than a few hours. Now, two weeks later, her cold has turned into a double ear infection. After another rough couple of nights, all is almost back to normal in the Macfarlane home. Two nights of very little sleep reminded me how blessed I am that she is rarely sick.

Despite her cold, she still managed to have a great Christmas (though she was a complete whiner at Papa and Grandma's on Christmas Eve). Kate really cherished each of her Christmas gifts...played with each one as she opened it (with some assistance). She was surprisingly good at opening them, though. It took 2 days to open all of the gifts and then a 3rd day when Papa Ron and Nama Vicki visited. She was so cute this year. Whenever asked what Santa was bringing her, she'd say "kitchen!" Of course, to the untrained ear, you might think she was aking for "chicken!" which is what her daddy thought the first time he heard her say "kitchen."

The Little People bus, van and Fairy Tree are all tops right behind her kitchen, but she also LOVES her Little Einsteins rocket, doctor kit & baby doll. About a week after Christmas, a friend loaned us the ever coveted Little People Zoo. This is the gift we had hoped to get her, but was unavailable. A friend loaned it to us for the next year or so when she will need it back for the little girl in her belly. All gifts, except the kitchen, are now secondary to this amazing toy. Animals, animals, animals! And, thanks to this gift, maybe she'll nail down that tricky alphabet.

Somehow we have found a place for everything. Keith doesn't think we can take another birthday, but alas, we will. If only we knew if we could eliminate the baby toys.... And, now, I am moving full throttle into birthday planning and birthday season where we have two birthdays in Jan and then 7 from Kate's birthday to the middle of April. Good thing Kate knows how to say Happy Birthday!

Christmas Cookies

This year I baked a lot of cookies. Baking (and eating) Christmas cookies with my mother is one of my fondest memories of her. I also have very fond memories of Grandma Raymond's Molasses cookies and her Peanut Butter Kisses. Since the Molasses cookies require more work, I chose to make the Peanut Butter Kisses for my annual cookie exchange. In my haste, I quadrupled the recipe! I froze the extra dough for a couple of weeks and had fresh cookies for Christmas at Grandma's.... I also made my mother's fantastic Peppermint Candy Canes...they turned out better than ever. Kate also joined in and helped cut out sugar cookies. I plan to make cookies every year with her for many, many years to come.