Fun in Charleston- Part 1

This past weekend, Kate and I took a trip with my mom and sister to visit my grandmother, Mitzi, in Charleston.  We had so much fun.  I don't get down there as much as I would like, but we have a great time when we do.  This time was no exception!

I left work about 3 on Friday so I could get home, back up the car, pick up Kate and then get back to Kristi's apartment to pick her up by 4:15.  We actually got to Kristi's apartment about 5 minutes before she did. Kate caught up on her reading while we waited.

After we picked up Kristi, we drove to pick up my mom.  She met us in a town that was on the way for both of us.  Then we were FINALLY on our way to Charleston.  We ended up having to stop when we were about an hour away from Mitzi's house.  She was sick of being in the car (so were we) and hungry.  So we stopped at a McDonalds and she ate a little bit of a cheeseburger and some applesauce. By the time we got there around 8:30pm, she was deliriously tired.  She hadn't napped all day. Surprisingly, she wasn't fussy.  I think it's so funny that sometimes when she gets so overtired, she thinks everything is hilarious.  Much better than the alternative! :)

Kate woke up around 7am on Saturday.  She went back to sleep just long enough for us to shower and get ready, and then she was ready to go!  We decided to take her to the mall to walk around, and of course we didn't mind shopping. The Citadel Mall had a Merry-Go-Round and we let Kate ride it for the very first time.

She loved it and was NOT happy when the ride was over.  However, I was extremely happy because I had to walk around the outside of that thing in a circle about a million times. 

We walked around a bit, and then we found another kid thing for Kate.  I'd never seen one of these before, but it was like a screen on the floor that kids could walk on.  There was a projector overhead shooting down images, but somehow it knew where you stepped.  In the picture below, there were dolphins swimming around and everywhere you stepped there would be bubbles.  They also had a sky and everywhere you stepped were fireworks.  Then it changed to a soccer field and you could "pass" the ball around.  Next it was a swimming pool and your steps were big splashes.  It was really neat.  I think I had as much fun as Kate.  She just liked to watch.

After the mall, we went back to Mitzi's place to eat lunch.  Kate particularly liked the ice cream. :) 

We took the scenic route back to Mitzi's apartment and walked around the complex, stopping to take some pictures along the way, of course. 

Kate had to take a nap when we got back to Mitzi's apartment, but later that afternoon we went over to James Island's park and played at the splash park and playground.  Lots more pictures but I'll save them for tomorrow's post!

My Cutie Pie

My mom and I went to the big Switcharoos consignment sale that takes place in our area about twice a year.  I got some great fall stuff for Kate, but my mom also got this cute dress for her to wear now.  She wore it to church last Sunday and I took some pictures in the yard when we got home.

Kate is definitely an outside girl.  She loves it. We have clover growing all over our yard, and she likes to pick the white "flowers" that grow in the clover. 

... We Let Kate Eat Cake

I'm just guessing, but I would say Kate's favorite party of her party wasn't the presents, or the family and friends, or even the lunch (although I'm sure she enjoyed all of those things).  No, I'd guess that her favorite part of her party was the CAKE.  

After lunch and presents, we headed outside to let Kate dig in.  I put the dogs in the back of Kevin's truck and they watched along with the rest of us. 

She went slowly at first.  I don't think she realized what it was... until she had a few bites. 

Then she figured out EXACTLY what it was, and loved it!

Can't you tell she enjoyed it?

She even loved her bath afterward. :)

And that was it! Kate's first birthday party was a lot of fun, and we're so glad that so much of our family could be there, including Kate's birth family.  Kate is such a special little girl, and she is very lucky to have SO many people involved in her life who love her so much.  I'm in no hurry for a 2nd birthday yet though!  No more party planning for me for another 12 months!

It's A Party

And now I'm finally posting the REST of Kate's birthday party.  You know, the one with the pictures where there are actually PEOPLE in them. :)  Sorry for the delay.  It's been a crazy week.  Kevin was out of town, but Kate and I were on the go the whole time.  So without further delay, here are the rest of the pictures from last Saturday at Kate's 1st birthday party. 

After Kate's breakfast, we laid her back down in her crib and hoped that she would sleep until just before the party.  We knew it would be a very long day for her, so we wanted to have her as rested as we possibly could.  It worked.  She went back to sleep and woke up around 11 as a couple of people were showing up to get everything set up.

Then I got her dressed and ready, and she entertained everyone as we got all of the last minute things taken care of.

After everyone had arrived, we ate lunch.  We ended up having around 20-25 people, including 7 from Kate's birth family.  We're so glad they could come and I think it meant a lot to them to be able to be there and celebrate Kate's 1st birthday with us.  

As we were finishing up, Kate noticed the stack of presents.  She has never really opened presents before.  She was only 4 months old at Christmas, so this was her first real experience with presents.  She only sort of figured it out.  I think she knows what to do with bags.  Wrapped presents are a different story.  Anyway, she had fun and got WAY more than we know what to do with.  

Hmm.  This is turning into a longer post than I thought!  I've still got lots of pictures of Kate eating her first birthday cake.  I'll post that one tomorrow, so check back.  Let's just say she enjoyed it... but we never really doubted that she would!  

Party Time!

I'm finally getting the chance to blog about Kate's party, and I think I'm going to break it up into 2 separate post...  one post with decorations and one with everything else.

I had lots of fun planning Kate's party.  We didn't do a real "theme" this year.  I figure that there will be plenty of years ahead where she begs us for a Dora party, or a Disney party, or something else!  So while she can't talk, I figured we would do something not really theme related.  BUT, it was definitely a girly party. :)

Here is the entry way.  I found a cute poem online and wrote it on the chalk board that we used for Kate's 1 year pictures.  I also printed out two of my favorites from her 1 year pictures.

And the food table.  The party was from 12-2, so we had lunch.  We had burgers, chips, and fruit salad. Kevin's brother Ken cooked the burgers and they were so good.  In keeping with the pink theme, we had pink lemonade and water to drink.

The cake!  One of our friends from church did Kate's birthday cakes.  She did a great job, so if you live in the upstate SC area and want to know who made her cakes, send me an email!  I'd found a few "inspiration" cakes online that I liked, and gave them to Brandee.  I love how it turned out... and Kate did too.  The bottom layer was cinna-bon flavored and the top layer was marble. 

I also had some decorations in the living room but now that I went through my pictures, I realize that I never got a picture of the final decor.  I think you get the idea from these though. I printed out Kate's monthly pictures, put them all in pink, teal and white frames, and put them on the mantle.  The half-finished mantle is the top picture.  Then I hung pink, white and teal/blue pom-poms from the ceiling.

And last, but definitely not least, is the birthday girl!  I couldn't share a whole post without mentioning WHO this part was for! :) 

Giveaway Winner & Kate's 1 Year Pictures!

First - the winner of the Veggie Tales DVD giveaway is Comment #10- Rachel!! You can check out Rachel's blog, and see her sweet twin girls here!  Rachel, can you send me an email at kelleyandkevin@yahoo.com with your mailing address?  

Today was Kate's party and we've been SO busy.  It's actually also our 5th wedding anniversary, so needless to say, this has been a busy day.  No time to blog about the party, but I will definitely get to it! Until then, here are some of my favorite pictures from Kate's 1 year pictures.  I had a hard time narrowing them down, so sorry if it takes 10 years to load on your computer. :)