A Musical Christmas

Katie Jo loves music and she got several musical instruments for Christmas this year. She does want to make sure everyone participates because she's not into a "one man band."

Christmas with the parents

On Wednesday, Dec. 20th Katie Jo opened gifts with Mommy and Daddy. She had had some practice the weekend before so she wanted less help and more involvement! :)

Opening gifts with Granddaddy and Mema

When Granddaddy and Mema came to visit they gave me a tea set for Christmas. I loved fixing everyone tea and stirring in the sugar.

Going on a Bear Hunt

This is a little video of Katie Jo doing the hand motions to her new favorite song, "Going on a Bear Hunt."

What a jolly old man!

Last week we went to see Santa and tell him all the goodies we'd like for Christmas. Katie Jo did quite well considering it was a strange man in a bright red costume with fur all around his face. She told him she'd like to have a doll, a tea set, and a few cute outfits. He said he thought he could swing it.

Go train go

Helping to feed the dogs

December news so far

Here's a couple of shots so far this month. We ran into a little camera problem a few weeks ago when someone left it outside overnite and it rained. We won't mention any names. So just our luck that the place we bought it from took it back and gave a full refund. In turn we bought another camera from the same place but nicer. Thank goodness for the decline in technology prices due to the ever increasing amount of "new and improved" gadgets available. So all in all we got a better camera for just ten dollars more!

Katie Jo had her 18 month appointment a few weeks ago and weighed in at 20.4 lbs. She measured 30 inches tall. The doc was quite impressed with her range of animal noises and ability to blink her eyes on command! :) Along with those impressive skills she has taken quite a liking to the moon and wants to find it each night it's available. She proceeds to point, yell "MOON," and make sure you're looking too. Her vocab is continuing to expand with the words No, diaper, hot, dirty, turtle, ball, and a few other that are escaping me right now. She still loves to jump and has finally figured out you can use the floor for this activity. Soon her feet will actually leave the ground and it won't just be a bent knee bounce.

Here we are yesterday with Daddy's train. She loved watching it go round and round and hearing the whistle blow.

Who could ever say "No" to these baby blues?

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Our church has a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party every year and this was the first one for KJ. It was such fun with a jump castle, craft, games, carols, storytime, and cupcakes. She especially liked shaking the jingle bells.

First doctor appointment

I had my first doctor appointment for the new pregnancy on November 30th. I weighed in at a whopping 98 lbs. Please don't misunderstand this as bragging. I am documenting it now so I can look back later and feel good about how much I gain later. The first trimesters stinks, but hopefully things will go like last time and the second and third will be perfect. I also found out my due date, which is Saturday, July 14th. Everything else was fairly standard and next time we'll get to hear the heartbeat!

November wrap up

Due to my increasing procrastination I have not updated the blog in a LONG time. So here's some pics from the month of November in no certain order. Enjoy!

Here I am with my neighbor Jack.

I said, "I'll drive this time!"

Some more

Here's me, Kelly and Elsa at Kelly's baby shower Nov. 4th.

The whole gang of girls: Jennie, Juli, Elsa, Kelly, Amber, Ashton, Amy and April.

Here is Katie Jo with Gran at her desk.

A little fun in the bath. Look at that precious smile!

Me and Daddy love to play a little before nite nite.

Last ones

I can never get enough shots of her when she wakes up from a nap. She just had the sweetest look on her face. This is Katie Jo with Natalie. She works with Gran at the school.
Here's Katie Jo with Granny and Papa.
They had a great time helping her slide on the rails. No splinters thankfully!

Well this month got off to a POSITIVE start!

Well, today (Nov. 5th) I confirmed what I had suspected for the last couple of days, I'm pregnant again. At first, it didn't seem real and I wasn't sure how to feel. I didn't have a lot of time to spare for those thoughts since the PREGNANCY read out on the test didn't last more than an hour and Jay wasn't home for me to tell. So I grabbed the camera and took a picture of the results. When he got home I had the camera sitting out and told him I had taken a really funny picture of Katie Jo and he just had to see it. When he turned the camera on it was the first picture that came up and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He looked up and said "Are you kidding me?" I think he was a little stunned and his financial wheels started turning. We stood in the kitchen for a few minutes and babbled about who knows what while we tried to wrap our minds around this. Once the initial shock wore off we hugged and both agreed that we were excited just a little blown away!!
After dinner I gave Katie Jo a bath and as I looked at her having a good time I realized how nice it will be for her to have a sibling joining her and watching them both together. This idea of another baby in the house will take a little getting used to but I plan to think of all the positives to look forward to. Now we just have to figure out when to tell people, how to pay for it, when we'll get Katie Jo moved to a toddler bed, will she be potty trained before the next arrival, and will we ever feed all the hungry in the world. No worries though we're having a baby!!

The best day ever

On October 21st we attended the annual sixum Clemson fest. Jay graduated with Brian and Martin and for the last several years we've picked one game to attend together with the significant others. This year is was the Georgia Tech game. Feat number one was scoring six tickets: Done. Feat number two was scoring a parking pass: Done with the added bonus that Brian's girlfriend got us a handicap sticker. Jay's sister Joni was gracious enough to sit in a spot in order to save it (literally sit and wait in a chair). So we feasted on good food, had lots of laughs, went downtown for the obligatory Clemson gear, and cheered the Tigers onto victory. Best day ever!

Halloween 2006

Here are a few pics from Halloween. Our little cutie was a "love bug." We enjoyed going to the church for the Fall Festival and then coming home to give out candy.

The parts of my face

Here's a little sample of Katie Jo showing off. The only way she'd let me tape her doing it was if I squatted beside her and aimed the camera at both of us. Thankfully, I got the only person in the view finder that really mattered! The audio and video are not in synch so she may do the motion before you hear my voice. Just wanted you to know she's not a psychic.

The 96 hour shut-ins

Here's our little sleeping beauty!

This was a FREE toy with a recent party I hosted. I had enough people order items that this pop-up play center came with the package. Katie Jo likes it and it folds down into a little circle so it's easy to put away when we're done. It's a lot like the one we have for her outside with a different theme on each side of the center. I think she'll be able to enjoy this for quite a while.

Presenting "The Amazing Katie Jo." Here she is making one of her many towers with the blocks. If there had been a shot after this one it would have shown her knocking them down and clapping with glee. She is just so darn smart! And yes that is a diaper wipes box we use to hold the blocks. I found that cutting the hole just a little bit bigger was just perfect for her little hands.

And unfortunately that's all folks. I was laid out for most of last week with a bug and Katie Jo, though not technically sick, was not feeling up to par. We're all better now and look for a much more in depth blog next week or so.

I will add that she is learning so quickly I can't quite keep up with it all. She knows so much and everyday Jay and I are amazed at her capacity for knowledge. She now knows the hand motions to the whole song "If you're happy and you know it." Just this weekend she got her hands dirty and Jay showed her how to wipe them together to get them clean. Well, wouldn't you know that she did it every time after that. She also has become quite proficient at dressing herself by putting her hands through the arm holes and undressing by stepping out of her pants. I would love to tap into her little brain and find out how many words she really understands because I'm thinking it's in the hundreds. Sorry to go on about her but really this is more to help me remember her milestones later on. Oh, and all teeth are in and accounted for. I guess all we have left are the two year molars.

The best things come in small packages

All I can say is, give a kid a box full of packing peanuts and you've got yourself a party!

Oct. 16-22

Well, we had quite a busy week and have the pictures to prove it. On Tuesday I got in a couple of boxes filled with toys (for other people) from a Discovery Toy party I had. It didn't take Katie Jo long to find the peanuts and discover what fun they'd be if she sat among them and threw them about. It kept her busy for quite some time. This week Jay also built a play area for Katie Jo and her climbing toy and playhouse. It is a great area with woodchips and she seems to love having her own "spot" to play in. We also went over to visit with Reilly Kaye one day and had some fun playing in her wagon outside. The weather has been so beautiful. We love this time of year! During the weekend we were in Lyman for family time and the Clemson game. Gran and Katie Jo had fun playing together outside and smelling the flowers. We walked across the street to visit the Collie, James, and he let Katie Jo love on him. Katie Jo probably thought he was the horse she sees in her animal books! On Saturday Jay and I went to Clemson with two of Jay's buddies he graduated with and their significant others. We had a ball tailgating all day and the game was awesome. Joni hung out with us after saving us a primo parking space and we all had a great time looking at the floats on Bowman field and shopping for tiger gear downtown.

Ah, the crashing of cymbal's. Music to my ears!

Here's a little video of a song Katie Jo composed on the drums.

All I Want for Christmas is a Drum Set!

While we were in Lyman this weekend we got to visit with the grands. Katie Jo found Uncle Matt's drum set in the garage and boy did she go to town! All that jamming with Aretha, the Doobie Brothers, and Mia has paid off. Looks like the garage has become a virtual vacuum of music mania. I also got a few photos of her with the hood on her jacket up which makes her look like a garden gnome!
We also went over to Gran and Pops Sunday afternoon. Pop showed Katie Jo how to spin a ball on her finger and she tried to do it too, without much luck! She has really become an imitator even more lately. Today she said her name about three times and considering what a mouthful it is that was quite a feat. She also has learned a couple of new songs in Child's Day Out and when we practice them at home she's really getting into the hand motions. We'll have to get those on video. Ok, I digressed. Anyway enjoy the photos.

Gantt Family Reunion

So on Saturday this past weekend Jay, Joni, KJ and myself drove up to Lake Hartwell State Park for the Gantt family reunion. We had a nice time visiting with family and eating a delicious lunch. One family member brought their super cute Jack Russell terriers and Katie Jo loved watching them chase balls and run around. She also played with Aunt Margaret and Aunt Linda read to her. Everyone enjoyed seeing how much she had grown and what a big girl she is turning in to. It was a good time as you'll see from the pics.