Cate Reading

Cate loves to "read" her books, especially if there are dogs in them!  Here she is on Christmas Eve.

Christmastime

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, especially with Cate being a little older and into a few more things than last year.  We were able to continue with family traditions from both the Bodemann and the Hall sides of the family, with new pajamas on Christmas Eve and a reading of the The Night Before Christmas.  Here's a bit of what our Christmas looked like....

Our reindeer Cate, food on her face of course.

The tree after Santa arrived on Christmas Eve.

Dad reading Cate, The Night Before Christmas, just like his dad used to do.

Cate opening her first gift...she was a little unsure what to do, but she got the hang of it!

We heard lots of "ooohs" and "aaahs"

A little frustrated

Just needed a milk break

Happy little girl

So excited for the See and Say animal toy from Nana

She played with most everything as she opened it

Taking notes so she can write her thank yous

Trying to pull her new ball out of the package (it was quite secure)

Giving her new vacuum a test run

She's a natural, if only it actually picked up the dog hair in my carpets.....

Skyping with the Halls in Atlanta

Family photo

Family photo with Maggie

Hugs for Maggie

Chatting with cousin Robert and Aunt Callie

Thanks to technology we were able to see the Hall side of the family via Skype and the Bodemann side of the family via face time.  Cate had a great time entertaining all!  We have a few videos we'll post soon, hope everyone had a great holiday!

Ho, Ho, Ho

Despite being petrified of Santa, we still talk about him a lot! (sorry it's dark in the video, we used the light of the tree). Happy holidays!

Birthday Party Fun

Last weekend we attended Miss Eloise's first birthday party.  Cate had a great time chasing the older kids in the yard, eating cupcakes, and testing out all of Eloise's gifts (she gave her stamp of approval for all!).

Cate and her daddy having fun!

Eloise getting excited by her Aunt Trudy

Happy Birthday to You!

Eloise was great to watch eat her cupcake...nice and messy!

And finally, I'll just try to get the whole thing in my mouth!

Happy Birthday sweet Eloise, thanks for letting us celebrate with you!

Trimming the Tree

Cate doing her part to decorate our tree!

Gobble, Gobble

Cate and I started the day with Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins....she was a fan

 

Serious work eating dinner

We had a nice low key Thanksgiving a few weeks back.  Lanny was on call the night before, so we just had dinner as the 3 of us.  We had a great relaxing day, a wonderful meal, though Cate got overwhelmed with all the options on her plate, so after a few bites, she refused to eat, and ended up with mac and cheese.....

                                         

                                                       Cate is all about feeding herself these days

                                

                                            Sorry for the "eye", we were getting over pink eye

Charlotte Ross

Last Wednesday, November 17th, the Baade family (and the rest of our world) welcomed sweet Charlotte Ross into the world.  Trudy and Matt went the entire pregnancy without knowing if their little "Poppy" was a girl or a boy....my vote was for a girl from the get go, I just knew Matt was having a little girl to bring him joy and a little stress!  Cate and I were invited up to the hospital Wednesday afternoon with their families and a few other friends to hear Matt announce indeed, "it's a girl".  We couldn't stick around after the announcement, Cate needed a nap and it was going to be awhile before anyone could see them, plus I knew we were coming back on Thursday with a little surprise for Trudy and Matt.

Sweet Charlotte Ross at one day old...she seriously looked perfect at birth.

Cate and I picked up Aunt Betsy at the airport Thursday morning for a quick visit to Dallas....we were trying to surprise the rest of our friends, but I think Trudy was the only one who ended up being surprised (still worth it seeing the expression on her face)

Matt had a quick cat nap while us girls chatted and Charlotte slept.

Charlotte (in the onesie I made for her shower)

    

Matt already makes a great dad

Parker meeting his cousin Charlotte 

She seems pretty relaxed with Parker

Cate and Eloise enjoyed some floor time

Trudy and Matt, thank you for including us in your special day, such an amazing day.  We can't wait to get see Charlotte again soon (as soon as we kick this nasty cold going around our house!)

Meeting Cousin Robert

As I mentioned the other day, we were lucky enough to get to see Callie, Rob and baby Robert on Saturday night.  They were stopping through Dallas on their way home from Rob's sister's wedding in Jamaica (and yes Robert went....12 weeks old is the easiest time to travel if you ask me....because it's certainly not 15 months!).  We met them at their hotel for a little dinner and to just hang out and visit, after we attended the TCU game, and after Lanny got home from a night of call (so he hadn't slept in nearly 40 hours).  It was SO great to see them and finally get to hold little Robert, he's growing so fast!  He was a little tired from their day of travel, but a trooper and even let Lanny and I hold him (though I didn't have the camera out for Lanny). 

It was tough to get one of all 4 of them looking at me, but what I got instead was priceless.

Cate was a little uncertain about baby Robert at first, especially when her dad was holding him, but she warmed up quickly!

And by warmed up, I mean, she enjoyed rubbing his little head like he was a baby buddha statue.

 

I'm not sure he liked my flash in his face, but it was a little dark at our table!

Such a sweet boy!

The whole Alisharan family.  We really loved seeing them, even for such a brief visit.  Hopefully we can get together again soon!  Love you guys!

Big Weekend

We had a busy Saturday this week. Lanny was on call Friday night, so once he was home Saturday afternoon we headed out to Fort Worth for TCU's final home game of the season. We got there just before the end of the first half, which worked out well for Cate....one half is about all she can handle! Cate really enjoyed playing with Parker in the stands, clapping for the Frogs and dancing to the music the band provided. After the game they allowed people on the field (the stadium is getting remodeled this year), and the had fireworks too....Cate loved it! After the game we headed out to DFW to see cousin Robert and his parents, they were staying the night as they traveled home to California. It was so great to see them and finally get to hold that sweet baby boy! Pictures to come shortly of Cate and Robert, she thought he was pretty sweet!

Candy Corn

Cate and I headed to Arkansas for Halloween since Lanny was on call and Aunt Ju Ju (my sister Julie) was going to be in town as well.  I decided to keep it pretty simple for Cate's costume this year, partly because she doesn't know the difference and because we were going to be traveling, the simpler the better!  I found a "pattern" for a candy corn dress on a sewing blog, here.  My lines aren't perfect, but I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and Cate was comfy all night in her fleece dress!

When we got to Hot Springs we headed over to Uncle Don and Aunt Kim's house to see everyone, Cate had a blast running in their yard chasing the dogs and all the balls (volleyballs and soccer balls).

Saying "hi" to Grandpa when he got over there

We took Cate over to Dr. Bill and Miss Elizabeth's house for trick or treating

Making sure Mom's still there

Yes, Cate wore her tennis shoes, she's too busy not to these days!

Enjoying one of the fabulous chocolate cookies Elizabeth made

With our hosts....I waited too long to get her picture with them!

There was lots of great Halloween toys to play with at their house!

Cate's second cousin Clara also came over that night.  I was amazed at how much better they interacted this time (the last time was this summer and they just weren't sure what to make of each other I think).

They both give great hugs

Clara shares really well, which is great with Cate since we're still working on sharing.....

Unfortunately we didn't get any picture with Aunt Ju Ju or Grandma, I kind of put the camera away the rest of the week.  We had a fun week, despite the cold we both came home with!