300th Post & Boulevard Park

Saturday was our 11th anniversary! We celebrated by going to dinner at the Olive Garden (thanks to a birthday gift card from my parents!) and then playing at Boulevard Park.

So happy to run free!

Can you see me? Well, my shadow anyway!

Anna Kate loved seeing all the dogs. The owners of this dog suggested I take a picture of their dog. I'm still not sure if they wanted Anna Kate in the picture or not! :)

It looks like Anna Kate is about to do a cartwheel but really she is holding onto Daddy's hand while running down a hill. She kept trying to turn around and crawl backwards down this hill like she was going down stairs but that didn't make for very cute pictures!

I love how her tongue is sticking out... so silly!

The sun was just about to set.

And Mike redeemed himself by taking a better photo of me and Anna Kate! :)

The Good and The Bad

Good: Mike was given great tickets for the Seahawk's game tonight. We decided we all would go. Football is not my favorite thing to watch but I'd never been to Qwest Field and thought it would be fun. Plus sports are usually more fun to watch in person than on television.

Good: I checked the Qwest Field website before we left and it said we could bring in a stroller if it would fit under our seats and we could bring in a camera if the lens was less than 6 inches (mine is 5 inches)!

Bad: It was pouring rain when we left our house and Qwest Field is not completely covered.

Bad: I forgot to check to see that the umbrella stroller was in the car. (Our regular stroller would definitely not fit under our seats.)

Good: Traffic wasn't bad at all.

Good: We had a yummy dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.

Bad: Someone (who will remain anonymous) refused to pay for parking and found a parking spot VERY far away. I can't really blame him because they were charging $25 for spots not that far from our free spot.

Good: The umbrella stroller was in the car!

Bad: Everyone except us was wearing Seahawks jerseys and other Seahawk gear.

Good: We brought our fleece Seahawks blanket with us so we kind of fit in with all the die-hard fans.

Good: It wasn't raining anymore.

Good: We picked up our tickets at will-call on the far side of the stadium.

Bad: We hadto retrace our steps to get to our gate.

Really Bad: I'm told that I can't bring my camera into the stadium because my lens is too long. I tell them that, no, I read the policy and it is fine. They tell me, no, you are wrong and that I can either take my camera back to the car (Yeah, right! Remember we are parked FAR away!) or I can check it in with coat check. They finally allow me to bring it in if I detach the lens from the camera and promise to keep it that way and not take it out. I am really MAD at this point!

Good: Our seats were awesome! Eight rows up on the 30 yard line. If I could have used my camera I could have shown you how close we were!

Bad: It was NOISY! Anna Kate attached herself to me and got a little upset every time the cheering started.

Good: Anna Kate mellowed out after 10 or so minutes and had fun clapping when everyone cheered!

Good: I got brave and took a quick photo inside the stadium.

Anna Kate even smiled!

Good: We didn't stay the whole game! :)

Bad: The picture Mike took of Anna Kate and I outside the stadium looked like this:

(My fault - the settings needed be changed.)

Bad: We had to walk the long way back to our car.

Good: Anna Kate falls asleep within 10 minutes.

Bad: We stopped in Mt. Vernon at McDonald's to get some ice cream (to help the driver stay awake). We got there at 10:15 pm and we were told they turned off their ice cream machines at 10 pm! Crazy!

Good: Wendy's was still open.

Bad: They didn't have $1 hot fudge sundaes.

Good: The Oreo Frosty and Strawberry shakes were delicious. (Not mixed... separate shakes!)

Bad: Anna Kate had woken up and was ready to play.

Good: She fell right to sleep after we got her into jammies.

Okay, I think this is the longest post I have ever written. Anyway, overall it was a very fun evening!

PS I already sent an email to the Seahawks customer service about the camera info mix-up. UGH! It's still making me mad!

Early holiday shopping???

Anna Kate climbed up onto the chair, found a catalog on the table, and started flipping through it. I think she's getting a jump start on her Christmas shopping!

Doll House

When Anna Kate was born, a friend of ours gave us her daughter's doll house and accessories that she had out grown. I got out the dolls and furniture a couple months ago but quickly found out that Anna Kate wasn't quite ready for them because she kept putting everything in her mouth. I everything in a bag in her closet. She found the bag today and pulled out each piece one y one. She gave the babies (and the mom and dad!) hugs. She thought the swimming pool was a hat and put it on her head. After I showed her how, she put the people on the chairs and in the bed and even put the blanket on top. She also kept setting up the chairs and then try to sit on them herself. (So funny!) She played with these toys for over 30 minutes! If you know Anna Kate at all you know she rarely sits still for 5 minutes!!

So I thought if she was having so much fun with the dolls and toys then she would love the dollhouse. We brought everything downstairs and I brought in the dollhouse from the garage. The first thing she tried to do was climb on top of it. Then she tried to climb through it. And then she played peek-a-boo with me through all the openings. I tried to show her how the dolls could climb up the stairs but she made them "run" on the roof. She played with the dolls a little more but still kept trying to crawl through it. Someday she'll get it but she still had lots of fun! (And it kept her very entertained!!)

Opening shop!

I opened up a shop on etsy.com to sell the little bows I make for Anna Kate. Here is the link:

http://www.cupcakeandco.etsy.com

I have a few other ideas of things I might add later on.

Stop by and tell your friends! :)

Determined

This is not a ride-on toy, however Anna Kate is determined that it is! She tries to climb on top of it and gets frustrated when she can't.

Big girl chair

Anna Kate loves to climb up onto the big chairs to sit!

Saturday Fun

We went to Boulevard Park!

Anna Kate played in the boat.

And chased all the dogs she could find.

She kept putting her sippy cup in her mouth, letting go and then shaking her head back and forth.

Then she would clap for herself... silly girl!

Curlers

I put a few sponge curlers in Anna Kate's hair. She left them in for about 10 minutes before she pulled half of them out.

She had a little more body to her hair... for about 30 minutes!

Finding Leaves

Anna Kate and I played on the back deck (inbetween rain showers). Anna Kate had fun finding fallen leaves and bringing them to me.

Reading with Puppy!

Silly hat!

Growing up too fast!

She just looks so grown up in this photo!

Flip

With all this humidity, Anna Kate's hair is doing a little flip on the sides.

Oh Wow!

My favorite thing Anna Kate says right now is "Oh, Wow!"

She starts saying it about 25 seconds into this video. You can see that she was having a lot of fun emptying out a kitchen drawer. It kept her very busy while I made some scones!

14 months old

What Anna Kate is up to these days:

RUNNING!

putting on hats, necklaces, shoes and clothes

a few new words: up, down, teeth, night-night, "guy" for light, "usic" for music, tries to say stairs

sharing her sippy cup with her baby doll and making a sipping sound

carrying around things in pairs, one in each hand

singing and dancing

going down the stairs on her belly

coloring with crayons

eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

drinking organic soy milk - she LOVES it

still talking on the "phone," whatever the phone is at the moment, the remote, a toy, even a shoe!

playing outside

sleeping 13 hours at night

trying to give up her morning nap

patting our back when she gives a hug

giving me "Eskimo" kisses and then giggling

blowing kisses and giving fives

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Anna Kate likes to say "E-I-E-I-O" when we sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. I like the way she says it!

Somersault

Anna Kate likes to do somersaults. She usually puts her head down on the ground and then we flip her over but this time she was able to flip herself over!

Oh and excuse Anna Kate's crazy outfit! She found some boots and wanted them on and she isn't wearing her dress because she hadn't eaten lunch yet.

Sunday photo

Look what I made...

I made a cute pink paisley slip cover for my camera strap!

I'd seen ones being sold (here and here) and thought I could make one. My first attempt didn't work out so well but I finally figured it out. I even put a little padding in there to make it a little more comfortable on my neck. And since I didn't make a whole new strap (like this one and this one) I can change the cover whenever I feel like something new!

Next I'm going to attempt to make a matching bag... maybe!

Hi Aunt Nanna!

Did you get my text?

(Aunt Brianna just got text messaging on her phone!)

A Day of Silliness

Anna Kate was full of fun today!

She had lots of fun putting bloomers on her arms and legs.

After lots of tries on her own, I finally helped her put one on her head. I went to pull it off and she pulled it back on.

Anna Kate got quite the pouty face when Daddy wouldn't give her the bubble blowing wand.

As soon as he did she was squealing and waving it all around.

This evening she started checking out her drum.

And then put it on her head!

It made a pretty cool hat!

She even tried to walk around with it on.

She also found out that the drum did not make a very good chair!

Tooth #9 broke through today and it's not one of her molars. It's a cuspid, which according to this, showed up a little early!

Anna Kate also signed and kind of said "thank-you" a few times today. She's only signed it a handful of times before. She also signed and said the "I" and the "love" of "I love you!" Getting there...

Funky Monkey

Once again, Anna Kate is wearing oven mitts. She is using one of them as a telephone. And the red shoes... a little too big but she found them and wanted them on.

Water

We took advantage of our warm weather today and filled up the little pool to play in.

Anna Kate is signing, "water."

She had just as much fun splashing from the outside.

Undressed

I came into Anna Kate's room this morning to find her without her pajamas on and holding her pajama shirt in her hand!

I had heard her wake up about 15 minutes before but then she got quiet again. Now I know what she was doing. I'm glad her diaper was still on!