Hello, from the North!

Hello again.  So, we've been quite busy these days, and certainly a lot has happened since our last real post.  So, I'm going to post a lot of stuff!!  Are you ready?!?!  Here goes. . .

Last weekend we had a some fun and went to the local indoor pool (with water slide).  Although, I know Katie REALLY didn't want to leave when we did, she has been doing a lot better about not throwing a fit when she has to leave something she loves.  She's growing and learning so much, and we are so proud!

Katie insists on going from one side of the pool to the other in the pool (not walking around the side), so she has gotten really good at going under the lane dividers.  And then there is the water slide.  She could go on it over and over ALL day and never get tired of it!!

 

Keith is great at holding her up when they get to the bottom, so that she doesn't get too water logged.  Doesn't that look like fun!

Let's see what else . . . The same day Keith took Katie to the local roller skating rink.  They where going to go ice skating, but apparently free skate time gets bumped for hockey tournaments!  Go figure, in Alaska!  And unfortunately it was just Keith and Katie roller skating, and no one to take pictures.  But she told me all about how much fun she had, and that she won a musical numbers game and got a slushy!  Great job, Sugar!

Most of our fun, is just goofing off around the house. This is Katie pretending to be a baby sleeping in her "crib".

 

Here is another place she like to lay around . . .

She has also started sleeping on the floor in her room.  She made her own "Cinderella bed", with all of her stuffed animals and blankets, in the middle of her floor.  And that is where she is taking her naps and sleeping at night.  She seems to be sleeping just as well as she does in bed.  Does that mean we can start moving furniture out of her room??

And here are some still photos of Katie's first ice skating trip.

Can you tell someone didn't want to go?

Oh, and a friend seems to think that Katie and I look like CA girls!  What do you think?

Well, that is all for now.  I think that gets you pretty caught up! 

Until next time, The Alaskan Shaws

Katie's First Time Ice Skating

A couple of funny Katie stories

We had a sick week this week.  Monday night Katie came down with a fever that lasted through Thursday.  Other than the first 12 hrs she didn't have any other symptoms, other than alternating from having lots of energy to having none.  And she is feeling better now. 

Anyhow, on Tuesday afternoon Katie woke up from her nap with a 103.4 degree fever.  She has never had a fever this high and we decided that she should see a doctor.  I gave her some Children's Motrin and we took her to the ER.  The time between taking her temperature and being seen by the doctor was about 1.5 hr, and of course by the time they took her temp it was only 99 degrees.  But they saw her anyway to see if there was anything that they should be concerned about. 

They put us in a room and we waited for the doctor.  Katie chatted up anyone that came by our room and then the doctor came.  And what do you think her first words were to him? She didn't say hello or give an answer to his question.  No.  Our sweet, darling little girl held her foot up to him and said, "Hey, look at my toe jam!"  And he just laughed.  He started checking her over and a nurse came by.  He told Katie to tell the nurse what she told him.  He laughed again and said, "In all my years I have never met a 3 year old that not only knew the term toe jam, but also what it meant!"  Only our Katie!!

 

And then there were the stamps.  If you've been around little girls, you know that they love stickers.  Well, last night Keith and I were looking at something and not paying 100% attention to Katie.  She was playing on the floor off to the side of us.  All of a sudden she yells, "I did it!  I put the stickers all over!!"  We looked over, and she had covered herself with an entire book of stamps, from head to toe.  I think we salvaged most of them, but they are still a little fuzzy from being on the floor.  Oh well, that's our girl!!

I hope you all are enjoying the little moments this season!  - Becky

Tree Trimming Party

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we had a Tree Trimming party.  We put up all of our Christmas decorations, except for the tree ornaments, and had some friends over to help decorate the tree.  Katie and her friend decorated most of it themselves, and as a result our tree was a little bottom heavy.  =)  We also orchestrated an unofficial cookie exchange.  Everyone brought such yummy cookies, and no one really ate many while there (and I gotta tell you, we did not need that many cookies left in our house!).  So we took a few from each set to send home with everyone.   I think that is something I'd like to do on a more organized basis starting next year.  Anyway, without further ado . . .

(If you can't read the captions under the pictures, you can click on the picture for a larger image.)

 

     

I hope that a good time was had by all.  We really enjoyed ourselves, and those that weren't able to make it were missed.

Meeting Santa

And then the time came.  We stood in line for 50 min before it was her turn to meet him.  Thankfully I brought our digital camera, because the center ran out of Polaroid film 3 kids before Katie.  It would have been terrible to have waited for so long and then have no pictures to show for it.  Anyhow, Katie got down to business.  She hopped right up on his lap, and told him that she wanted a fish for Christmas. She has since changed her mind. We will have to send a letter to Santa to tell him that she wants a pony with a hairbrush, instead.  Hope it gets to him in time!  =)

Practicing to Meet Santa

Last year it took a little coaxing to get Katie to talk to Santa. She was really excited about it until she saw him up close. He was very friendly and kind, and she did sit on his lap long enough for us to take a couple of pictures. But the only thing she said to him was "Merry Christmas", and that wasn't even until we were walking away from him.

So this year, I thought we would practice a little bit before we went to see him. We have a Santa rug and Katie happens to be exactly the same size as Santa. So I had her lay down next to Santa and practice telling him (the rug) what she wanted for Christmas. It was very funny!! =)

The Day After - (aka Thanksgiving Day)

So, on the official Thanksgiving Day we did practically nothing.  It was actually quite nice.  First full day off that Keith and I have had together in a long time.  We had a pre-cooked Thanksgiving meal that we had won from a radio contest (very little cooking and cleaning).  We made a nice fire, watched a movie or two and started getting out some Christmas decorations.  Below are pictures of our action packed day!!

 

While reading the newspaper and going through the ads for the Friday morning sales, Katie started to take the pieces we were done with, standing them up in some fashion in a circle.  When she decided she was done she plopped down in the center and said, "I DID IT!" 

Later we started our "Official" Christmas decorating with Katie's Christmas Tree.  Keith and Katie had fun decorating it, then it was put in her room on her stand next to her bed. 

S0 proud!!  (Don't you just love the Goofy-Ear Santa hat?!)