11-months, really? Already?!?

"Truth be told, mommy forgot my birthday. The day started off like any normal day and it wasn't until later that she remembered and took my photo in my crib with George. It's tough being the third kid."

Eloise and George: October 18, 2015

"Over the past month mom says I have really developed a personality. I started showing everyone that I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BIG with my arms. Natalie thought it was so funny that she had me doing it every 10 seconds or so... so I don't do it very much anymore."

"Unfortunately, daddy had to do a fair amount of late nights and traveling for work over the past month, so mommy did a lot of what she likes to call creative parenting. This involves things like: dinner in the bathtub, Happy Meals Wednesdays in the park after school, and lots of wagon rides."

  

"I learned to really love my rocking cow. I liked it before, but this past month I fell in love with it. I can make it go on my own and while mommy needs to stay close by, she doesn't need to hold me anymore."

"I learned the difference between throw-up and spit-up. I don't like either one. But mom and dad helped take care of me and I conquered my 3-hour stomach bug that arrived suddenly one night at midnight or so. The next day when I was feeling a little better, mom let me try on this pumpkin costume that used to belong to Natalie. It was a size 3T, so it was a little big but we had fun anyway."

"I like to stand up, but I am not very strong or confident yet. I cannot pull myself up, but if you help me up and give me something to hold on to, I will hang out and play/dance for a few minutes. But you need to stay close by because when I fall it is not always very graceful. And if I fall onto my tummy or back, I cannot get back up to a sitting position. And I get very upset if this happens."
 

"Mommy and I made a lot of trips to Basha's (our grocery store) while daddy was gone. Mommy said it was because her brain was fried and she couldn't ever seem to remember to get everything on her [non-existent] list. I didn't mind though because it was something to do and I have lots of friends who work at Basha's that love to see me. Here I am wearing my donut jammies and staring at all the donuts. Mommy tried to show me that the donuts on my pants looked like the ones in the case but I didn't get it. Nor did I get a donut. "

"I did lots of playing with my best friend, Gus."

"I ate my first spaghetti."

 "And I learned to share my Cheerios (but not my bottle) with Natalie's baby, Scarlett."

 

"Oh, and I love love love love to read books. I also really like it when someone reads them to me, but I am content to look at them by myself, as long as they have pretty pictures."

For comparison, here's a link to Natalie's 11-month blog update:
http://suburbanhayes.blogspot.com/2012/03/11-month-birthday.html

Daddy and Katie Camping Trip

Over the final days of Fall Break, Scott and Katie went camping together. They packed the truck (including Gus) and went off to explore a new area for future family camping trips.

Someone was not super thrilled about going camping and forgot to pack long-sleeves.

When we go camping, Gus is allowed to roam free. To help keep track of him, he wears a jingle bell on his collar. He loves it. I think he knows it means freedom.

A beautiful campsite with Four Peaks off in the distance.

And while exploring they just happened to find Forest Road 3222!

Still no crawling...

Eloise is never going to crawl.  But that's ok, because she spins...

Eloise learns about Pop Goes the Weasel with her big sister.

Celebrating 10-months with Grandpa and Grandma

"Mommy is gone today on her Mommycation in Colorado and Daddy just got home late last night from his last minute whirlwind work trip to Germany but good ol Grandpa Huxter remembered that it was my birthday. And my Grandpa is so on top of things that he remembered to take my monthly photo in bed with George amidst the chaos of watching me and my sisters!! Unfortunately, mommy somehow lost the photo of me when she got a new phone."





"I hear my mommy telling everyone what a good and chill baby I am. I guess sleeping from 7pm-7am and taking a 2 hour morning nap (around 10am) and a 2 hour afternoon nap (around 2pm) isn't normal? It seems just about perfect to me."

"Auntie came to visit and gave me lots of good Auntie love. I picked out this Money magazine and she was kind enough to read me some of the articles. I have a good idea grasp on the idea of investing. Now I just need some money to invest."

"I caught mom off guard when I learned how to spin around in my bathtub."

"I started actually looking at books rather than just sitting or chewing on them."

"I fell in love with Natalie's baby doll. And Natalie's old lion walker toy."

"The weather cooled down enough to go to the park and I discovered how awesome real swings are."

"I still refuse to crawl. I just sttttttttrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeettttttttcccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"But I can see all these things that look like fun up on the coffee table. I am just not strong enough to pull myself up far enough to reach them, yet."

By comparison, here's a link to Natalie's 10-month blog update:
http://suburbanhayes.blogspot.com/2012/02/10-months-old.html

Fall Soccer

Natalie wanted to take soccer again, so we signed her up for another class (ages 3-5).  In hindsight, she probably would've been ready for a team.  But we found out that her neighbor friend down the street plays on a team, so maybe next season.

Eloise and Gus

A snapshot of playtime with Eloise and Gus.

1.  Dog-Dog! Must play with dog.

2. Hmmmmm, but how do I get over there?

3. Maybe if I just squeal and reach.........

4. YES!

 5.  No, wait. Don't go away. I'm sorry I touched your front leg/foot. I forgot that you hate it when someone touches your front foot.  I won't do it again. I promise.

6.  Mom, could you please tell her to leave me alone?

7. Hey Dog-Dog, wait!  I just want to touch your necklace.  Please?!?!?

And on and on and on until poor Gus finally gets up and leaves the room.

Happy 10th Birthday, Kimberlee House.

Scott bought our house in 2005, just as we started dating. Who would've thought that ten years, a marriage, a pool, two new kids, a puppy and a lot of work (inside and out) later, we would be here, happily bursting at the seams? 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

No big party, just a boring old cake in a pan.  But that's what happens when you turn 39.

High School Swim!

After a week of camp and a week of tryouts, Katie secured herself a spot on the 2015 Perry High School swim team.  She's made a lot of new friends and has been working very hard at practice after school everyday.

It's tricky to get any good photos of her in action, but here she is at her first meet (on the far right) about to swim the 100 Freestyle.

She's in the third lane from the left.

Tupperwear Nascar: four years later...

Almost four years we found two kids entertaining themselves with tupperwear bins. 

Nat and Katie: November 2011.

http://suburbanhayes.blogspot.com/2011/11/who-needs-toys-not-these-two.html

Last night we found two kids doing the same thing... except this time it was two different kids. The non-stop giggles drew the big kid out of her room and just like that, we were able to recreate the great Tupperwear racecar night of 2011.

Nat and Katie: September 2015

Naturally, we had to find another bin to make sure everyone was able to get in on the fun...
 

And then it turned super silly when Natalie decided to try to push Katie around in her bin. Luckily, it was a success, no one was hurt and the Tupperwear bins even stood up to the challenge.