Political Humor

Living is D.C. the hub of the political world keeps us in constant ear shot of the chatter, and lately all the people are talking about is Sarah Palin. I thought this comic was pretty funny, especially in light of the recent hurricanes. :)

Courtesy of Cartoonist Aislin (From The Montreal Gazette), 9/3/08

Hurricane Hannah Spoils the Birthday Bash!

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've written a post. Sorry for letting the time slip by. Things have been so busy these past few weeks. We went from Kate's birthday to my birthday to the start of school and doctor's appointments...and lots of little things that just eat away the time.

But let me start by saying that Kate got some allergy testing done on Friday b/c of her eczema and diaper rashes. I am happy to say that she tested NEGATIVE to the five major food allergens and to rice. I am thrilled that we can move ahead with milk and dairy now. We may have to investigate some other allergens down the road if her skin doesn't clear up...but for now, we're hoping she'll outgrow it.

Okay...so Hurricane Hannah blew through our area and spoiled my wonderful birthday plans. I guess the story really begins a week ago. Josh announced that my birthday week would begin on Thursday (8/29). At 5 p.m. Josh gave me a pile of numbered envelopes that began our journey. We went out to a wonderful dinner in Bethesda, and walked around the city with Kate to work off our meal. We had a nice little drive that brought me back home where Josh surprisingly got out and proceeded to take Kate out of the car too. He told me to get back in the car and keep reading the clues. The rest of the clues brought me to BWI airport where my wonderful friend, Holly was waiting for me. She flew in from San Diego to surprise me! I was so happy to see her that I cried. It had been almost a year since her last visit, and I was particularly excited about seeing her pregnant belly and showing off Kate to her!

So the entire long weekend was spent doing girlie things and catching up on too much lost time. Going to our favorite restaurants and doing a lot of errands and typical stuff. But when you have a good friend in the passenger seat, you can do anything and have fun. Thanks for coming, Holly!

On my actual birthday (9/1), Josh surprised me with an incredible weekend getaway (scheduled for this weekend). He bought me tickets to go see Les Miserable, my favorite Broadway musical. It has been playing at Wolf Trap (a gorgeous outdoor amphitheater in Virginia) and I had been wanting to go see it. He also reserved a hotel room so we could have a weekend without the baby. His real gift to me was a full night's sleep!

BUT Hurricane Hannah blew through here and was just strong enough to rain on my parade! Forecasters were predicting 2 to 3 inches of rain an hour and a lot of flash flooding. We needed to make a decision about the hotel before 24 hours of Hannah's arrival in order to cancel our reservation. So, not wanting to use money on a weekend that might go bust, we cancelled. Good decision, because on top of the storm, Josh got really sick. He's coughing and sneezing and achy and cold. He's been in bed most of the day today. So even though Wolf Trap didn't cancel the performance (I guess actors and musicians don't mind performing in a deluge), I couldn't very well ask Josh to go sit under a covered amphitheater in a cold, wet, damp downpour while sick. So needless to say, we missed the show.

My parents did keep Kate overnight for us. So I am hoping to still get my full night's sleep. However, I'll be sleeping on the couch while Josh contaminates our bedroom with his sneezes.

Our weekend didn't work out as planned, but I love Josh for trying. The night out in Bethesda on Thursday, the clues around town, the surprise visit with Holly, and all his planning to make a special weekend happen means more to me than the weekend itself. Thank you, Josh for all your effort. I love you more than you realize.

Now, just get better please. We're running out of tissues.

Kate's 1st Boat Ride

In honor of Mommy's birthday today and the beautiful weather, Daddy suggested that we go on the paddle boats at the Rio. Mommy was a little hesitant to take me on the water, mainly because I wiggle and squirm a lot. But Daddy assured her that I would be safe and that there were life jackets in my size. (I'm glad Daddy can persuade Mommy to do fun things.) So off we went on our adventure! I got to chase ducks and geese around the pond and get really close to to big water fountains! It was a lot of fun. I hope we get to go again soon!

A Year Old

Yesterday was Kate's birthday. She's a year old! I still can't believe my little baby is a year old already! I want to treasure every day with her and kiss her every time I hold her. (There will be a day when that's not cool anymore, so I'll get my time in while I can!) It's amazing how much I love this little girl... my love for her grows more and more each day.

Josh took Kate outside for a little photo shoot commemorating her 1st birthday. Here are some photos from that time.

Here are some other pictures from Kate's Birthday Celebration:

And of course there are the infamous cake eating pictures:

It was a wonderful day of celebration.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Kate's first birthday a wonderful day!

Cake Decorating 101 - Don't take lessons from me

I knew I bit off more than I could chew. I knew it would be a huge endeavor for me - someone who doesn't really bake often-- someone who has never decorated a cake with anything other than the frosting that comes from a Betty Crocker plastic jar. I love to cook, but baking is different--it's just not really my thing. But once I got the idea in my head to do a Baby Einstein caterpillar birthday cake for Kate, nothing else would do.

So at 3 p.m. on Thursday I started making the frosting. And at 7 p.m. and 24 cups of confectionery sugar later, I had a refrigerator stocked full of frosting containers: green, yellow, red, purple, blue and white.

9 p.m. Thursday, I made the first cake section and let it cool for decorating the next morning.

10 a.m. on Friday, with babysitter in hand, I headed to my mom's house to finish the baking, decorating, and assembling of this master cake.

1 p.m. - Friday

4 p.m. Friday
Only one segment of the Caterpillar is done...there are still four more parts to go!!
Look, Kate doesn't have a clue what this is all about...

9:00 p.m. - Friday

Okay...I felt like I was on the final stretch. By 10: 30 p.m. I was putting the finishing touches on the head and all I had to do was decorate the little feet and I was done! So as I added the candy cheeks...I gasped as the head fell forward. I grabbed hold of it before it hit the table, and in the process I ruined the frosting. I attached the head again and touched up the frosting...and it fell off yet again. With new dowel rods and the cake in a different position, I attempted it a third time. And not only did the head fall off again, but the purple base cake cracked in half and was not salvageable. So here I am at 11 p.m. with a mangled head and no base...what do I do. Stores are closed. My mom's not a baker so there's no extra cake mix in the house...nor does she like crafts so there are no Styrofoam pieces around. Yet, my mom, my Aunt Jackie, and I put our heads together and found a solution! We used a cantaloupe!

The remainder of the night was like watching the miracle of the loaves and fishes...but with purple frosting this time. I barely had any left when the cake split, and I was so tired that I didn't want to mix a new batch up and have to deal with matching the colors. It was amazing that the frosting lasted. In the end there was a tiny section on the back of the cantaloupe that was not covered, but you couldn't really see it.

12:30 a.m. - Saturday

1 a.m. Saturday

So with the cake finished, I crawled into bed in my parent's guest room. I didn't even have it in me to make it home. The cake was done, and every ounce of effort was worth it. It was my way to make Kate's birthday extra special - even if she never remembers the cake. You know, I'd probably do it again too.

Happy Birthday, Little One! Momma loves you!

Miss Independent

Well, we all know Kate has a mind of her own - with specific preferences and tastes. She makes it really clear when she's not happy. But now independence is happening in new ways.

We've been watching and watching - just waiting for Kate to meet some new milestones...and the day has arrived. Kate has been taking her sweet little time getting up and moving around. Her (much) younger friends are already passing her. But in the last few days, Kate has figured out how to sit up all by herself, pull herself up to a standing position, and get on all fours with tummy off the ground. She still refuses to crawl, taking the much preferred route of rolling around-- but she's at least getting her body in the right position now. She's been taking a few small steps holding on to our hands. So the crawling and walking should be coming really soon.

This morning, she went down for a nap. About 15 minutes later she started crying really hard. I went in to check on her and she was standing up and holding onto the crib rail with white knuckles. She was all sweaty and frustrated. She managed to stand up but I don't think she knew what to do after that!

This video shows Kate's frustration of being stuck in the crib, and her process of standing up.
(3:15 long)

Today she figured out how to open and close the entertainment center cabinets. I guess my job tonight will be to empty them out!

Hard to believe our little one will be a year old this Saturday! How do you keep them tiny forever?

Videos of Kate

Here are three videos of Katherine that were shot today. She was in rare form at dinner time! Kate is definitely full of energy and has already begun to develop her own opinions and wants.

Pre-Dinner Playtime (2:29)

Here I am--Spillin' the (Green) Beans (2:08)

Me and My Sippy Cup (2:00)
I thought that these things were supposed to keep the water from spilling all over!