Sand

So I have a sand collection.  I started it sometime a long time ago (can't remember when).  Actually I think I started it when I was about 14 or 15 and my family went on vacation to the Outer Banks.  My sisters and I bought little jars and put sand and water from the ocean in them.  Most of my sand had been organized and taken care of by my parents all these years.  Last year my mother in law saw someone that had this neat way to display her sand collection and then had one made for me. (I have to add that she is also really awesome about remembering to get me a little sand everywhere she goes.)

 When my dad came for the baby's blessing he brought a little bit of sand from each jar in his slash my collection at his house.  He bought me a label maker and we went to work.

  Because you really couldn't see the sand I painted the whole thing black and now it is much easier to see.  I love it, it is perfect.

  I love the beach so so so so much and have been so blessed to travel all over the world.  This collection is a way for me to remember each of those trips and dream of travels that I will make someday.  Not all of the sands are from places I have been.  Red labels are for the places I have been and black are places I haven't been to yet.  If you travel to a beach (anywhere) I would love some sand! I only need about a tablespoon! I've got about 55 of the 100 jars filled and can't wait for the adventures that will help me fill the rest.
Look how dark Anchorage is:

 One of the things that I love most about my sand collection is comparing the color of the sand.  These are both from Seaside.  The first is Florida and the second is Oregon.  Both beaches I really love.

Ramen

Lewis has recently become slightly obsessed with ramen noodles.  Apparently there are certain brands that are waaaaaaay better than top ramen.  There is a magazine called Lucky Peach that is put out by McSweeney's and  is created by David Chang who is the chef of the Momofuku restaurants in NYC. 
 The first magazine was focused on ramen so Lewis went to the local Asian market and picked up various types of ramen to test out.  Isn't he awesome? 
There is a specific time to boil the noodles and a specific time to boil the egg-- 6 minutes 10 seconds is what they recommend for the egg but Lewis has found that he likes the yolk a little firmer so I think he does more like 6 minutes 30 seconds or 7 minutes.  Then you immerse the egg in ice water and drink it if you are trying to gross out your wife:

 After it has been in the ice for ????? (can't remember)  you peel it and then cut it with a piece of fishing line if you have it. A knife will NOT do the trick.

 Then smile and pose for the camera:

 Taste and love it!!  Lewis happens to think everything is better with an egg on it. He loves Thai food with a fried egg and especially loves them on his burgers. 

I was hoping he would blog about this because he is much more passionate about it than I am, but he has been working way too much lately.  Three nights on call this week and I am about to go up there and demand they give me my husband back and never let him go again.  But alas, there are drunk people to sew back together and gunshot wounds to fix and not enough interns to go around.

4 Months

13 lbs. 8 oz.

24 inches

Grabbing toys, everything goes straight to the mouth.

Very ticklish, but resists laughing until she can hold it in no more.

Great sleeper at night, not great at napping on the go. Since we are usually on the go this can be tough. She will fall asleep in the car, but wakes up easily and definitely does not transfer from car seat to my arms without waking up.

That being said, she is a real trooper. Being hauled around from place to place all day long even wears me out and she is great about it. Very patient.

Loves the kids. Will smile at them whenever she can see them.

Still super duper drooly. Drools constantly and blows bubbles, makes funny noises with her mouth to communicate.

Oh yeah, also loves to watch the TV.

Moves around on the floor or in her crib by arching her back and/or rolling halfway over.

Chunky.

Tasty.

Wonderful.

Squeezy. Her legs are squeezy as are her cheeks, but she doesn't love to cuddle and rock to sleep. She loves to be held, but prefers to look out and watch everything that is going on. Which is usually lots.

We are all in love with this sweet baby. It's really lucky for her that we haven't just eaten her up by now since she's so tasty. I mean, look at those thighs.

The Adventures of Cate the Great

A little bit of what Cate is up to at age 3:

Cate is weighing in at 27 lbs. 10 oz. with her shoes on. The doctor was concerned that she might have Celiac Disease because her iron has always been low (even though she takes iron daily) and she is so small. We found out last week that she doesn't have it, but the doctor is still a little concerned. We think she's pretty great. 3 years old is such a fun age. It's so fun seeing Cate turn into a little kid. Her mannerisms are so cute and funny. She says the FUNNIEST things and keeps us all entertained.
She talks non-stop. I get a running commentary all day long. If I am sitting in the rocking chair, say, trying to rock the baby to sleep, she will come up every 2 seconds and ask me if the baby is asleep or awake. "Is she asleep, Mom? Or awake? Asleep? Mom, is the baby awake or asleep?" and on and on and on again. Just as the baby closes her eyes she gets Cate the Great all up in her grill.


Today we went to the little gymnastics class at the library. She had lots of fun flipping and doing handstands. She also loved following the directions at each station. If she was a little bit bigger it would have been easier, but she'll get there.
Marni and I took Cate and Andrew to the zoo this week and let them feed the lorikeets. They almost ate Marni whole when she walked in with the food, but we survived and the little kids were super brave.





She loves to steal my ipod. She will watch movies, listen to music, play games, or (her personal favorite) take 100 pictures and 50 short videos of herself.
I give you exhibit A:
and Exhibit B:

And C: ("C is for Cate the Great. So is 3, 3 is for Cate the Great. Because I'm 3. You are 3 too Mom, but not really because I'm 3")She is pretty patient about sitting through everyone's sporting events.
We like to see how many kids we can cram into one stroller. You should try it sometime, it's a fun game:
If it's cold, like the 60 degree night we had last night, we just add a fleece and let her run around with her own soccer ball. She loves soccer and we'll probably let her start playing in the spring:

Right now Cate is really into her baby doll. Whenever I am feeding the real baby she feeds hers too, then wants to change its diaper and clothes 10 times and day. Of course she can't do it alone so she keeps saying "I need help" over and over and over until I think I might lose my mind. Honestly.
She really loves her squinkies. Especially her Ariel ones. But not the Ursula or eels because they totally give her the heebie jeebies. Not like koosh ball things give her the heebie jeebies, but she does shudder at the mention of them (and cover her mouth in fear).
Another ipod picture spree, this time with big sister as accomplice:

I promise you'll thank me for this last one, and Cate will hate me forever but I am ready for that because this picture is too great. The other night Cate was super tired but wouldn't go to bed and she totally fell asleep standing up. She also refused to wear pajamas that night:

You're welcome!
Cate the Great! We love you Cate the Great!
(BTW she totally introduces herself as Cate the Great. It's awesome.)

Lately

Life took a major turn into crazy busyville recently, so------ here are a few pictures from my ipod to show some of what we've been up to lately:
First of all this is what my yard already looked like a couple of weeks ago. Leaves are the stuff of nightmares for me. The never ending raking. Shudder.

We went and saw The Smurfs at the drive in. About halfway through the movie the film stopped moving and burned up. It was an adventure! The kids loved all the junk I bought to eat while we watched. This is us in the car:

This is what Cate put on her feet the other day. I didn't notice until I put her in the cart at Costco. It's not her fault, she was born with that gene. The SMOOTH gene. I have it too.
Eating drumsticks (the ice cream variety) on the deck:
I made a cabinet for my dining room by sawing off the bottom half of Lewis' old dresser: The drawers on the bottom didn't function so I made him get a new one and now we have a place to stash our million crayons, markers, craft supplies, etc.
The little girls and I joined the kids for lunch on chicken tenders day. I try to make my kids buy lunch once in a while but they don't like to very often. Truthfully, I don't blame them but the food was pretty good this time.

Cate thought the pink milk was divine:
Tropical storm Lee did a number on us in this area. It blows my mind how much national media coverage storms get when they are going to hit the east coast but I really saw nothing about the damage this storm left in its wake. There were so many trees down in our area and almost everyone we know lost power at one time or another. This was down the street from us, next door to a house that had 2 trees on it from the April tornadoes. Our next door neighbor lost a huge pine and a couple of houses down lost a big huge oak tree. Someone needs to explain to me how there are still so many trees in Alabama!
Cate rode the tiger on the carousel. Rar!!!
Cate is taking ballet and it's the cutest thing ever to see all those little 3 year old bodies in leotards.
And baby is still eating her own hands. But how can you blame the girl? She is completely tasty.