sweet home

Our little summer solstice baby turned 3 this week and I know it's cliche, but I can hardly believe it. She's sort of a maniac, but is scared of fire which made it hard to blow out her candles. For her birthday dinner we went to a new Mongolian grill and they sang and gave her brownie with ice cream. The waitress leaned over to Lewis and I and said "they are also going to make a big fire on the grill for her!" Lewis said "No! She hates fire, don't do it." But it was too late. We were sitting right next to the grill and as soon as the fire shot up Cate was in tears!
Cate was born at 11:28am on June 21, 2008. After being induced at about 6:30am she made a quick arrival and was greeted by me and Lewis as well as my mom and Jackie. She was absolutely the best baby on the planet. She slept through the night from the first day of her life and never cried unless she was starving. Her favorite person has always been Lewis. The other kids went through a phase where they only wanted me, but Cate never did. From the beginning her face would light up when Lewis got home from work and they still have a great bond. Possibly because of her recently discovered reflux and possibly because she was anemic, Cate also had trouble gaining weight. She is doing better but is still tiny. I would guess she is about 25 lbs. I bought her some size 2T shorts for this summer and had to put them away and pull out the 18 month shorts from last summer.

We love our Cate the Great. She is a sometimes sneaky little girl who gets away with a lot because she is the baby even though she isn't last in birth order. Because she loves to play the part of "the baby" I think she will always have that spot. She loves to be carried around still and knows just how to get her way--especially from Lewis! He just can't say no to her. The other day he was leaving and the kids were all begging to go with him. Cate ran up to him, wrapped her arms around his legs and said "It's ME Daddy, it's Cate the great! Take Cate the great!" in the most panicked voice. She also loves her Ayen and Bubby and wants to be just like them. I hope they will always be good to her and show her the right way to live.

We are all so grateful to have her in our lives. Cate the great, we love you Cate the great!!

Jordan and her kids came for a visit and it was Lewis' last weekend before going back to OMFS (which is good because it means he is going to be done in 2 years and bad because it means he is going to be gone a lot more) so we decided to head for the beach! I know I've said it a lot but the gulf beaches are so incredible. The water was 83 degrees for crying out loud! You really need to try them. (We were at Sea Grove beach in South Walton County on 30A.)
Here are lots of pictures in no particular order:

That is the page I sent Lewis the other day and this is the snake:
It was about 6 to 8 feet long.
(click on the picture to see it bigger)
Super creepy.
Remember how much I hate snakes? And how they give me the heebie jeebies super bad? I get chills just typing this. But the good thing is that it is going to eat all the annoying chipmunks that dig holes in my yard. Right?
The bad thing is that we never saw it leave. We turned away for 30 seconds and now it's gone. I hope it's not up in a tree watching me.
Yikes.


Let's change the subject asap.

Aiden got a hair cut and she looks adorable.


She was looking too old. I like the short hair better, it is inspiring me to chop mine.
Cute, right?

One of the songs from Brooks' kindergarten show was Baby Beluga (by Raffi). Since then it has been one of our favorite songs to sing all day long. It gets stuck in your head and can't get out. Anyway, Cate (and the rest of us) have started calling our baby Baby Aluga. It's sweet. So is her dimple. Please excuse the blurry photo.

Cate wanted to hold her baby.

For a second and then she shoved her away.
But still she looks up to her big sister/ torturer.
Excuse me, I have to go eat her cheeks now.

Here's a little of what we've been up to (and when I say we I don't mean me because all I've done so far is sit around and watch everyone else--mainly my mother in law--do all the work):

Grandpa came for a few days and helped build a patio under the deck where grass won't grow. Now all we need is a fire pit, hammock, and some adirondack chairs:



Grandma has been here since before the baby was born. She has done EVERYTHING and we (this time I do mean me) are scared for when she leaves tomorrow morning:
Played in our trusty alligator pool:
Cate being sassy Cate:
Testing out the new slip n slide (it will be 99 degrees today!):


Lots of swinging:

Doodles is always a good idea:

Mostly just enjoying this sweet new baby:
She's supporting her birthplace, go blazers!