Balloon Fiesta

I love "Abba"!!!
Hugs from boy cousins are a little rougher.



The title of Kate's blog should really be "Better Late Than Never." This is not timely, but worthy of a blog entry!

We visited the ABQ family last weekend and got to see the hot air balloons, play with all of the cousins, run around the grower's market on Rio Grande and hang with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and dogs too! What fun. Actually, a little too much fun. It was a tough trip for our little girl who would MUCH rather play with the "babies" (ie cousins) than go to bed. Total over-stimulation = a cranky girl!

Kissing and Cupcakes

Kissing is pretty much Kate's favorite thing these days. Unlike her kisses a couple of months ago that were really more like bites, these are the real thing -- complete with an open mouth and closed eyes.

We celebrated Colin Hastings' birthday with him a couple of weekends ago and this photo that Gwen took is simply a CLASSIC.

If there is anything Kate likes more than kissing, it is chocolate cupcakes. As you can see, it was a GOOD day.

Carey and I are saving this pic in the archives until Kate and Colin's wedding. I hope that Kate does not have a problem with arranged marriages.

Our girl is ONE!!!!

FINALLY. Only three weeks late. Here are some of my favorite photos from Kate's birthday. We had Robbie and Tish over for dinner on Tuesday the 8th (her actual birthday, and the day we got home from Pinetop) and then we had the rest of our family and a few friends over for a little pizza and cupcakes on Saturday the 12th. We were so lucky to have Grammy and Grandzilla (Marty and Rod) here for the weekend too!!

It was a fun week of celebrating our sweet little girl Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and for making her first year so wonderful.

Bad parenting caught on camera

All of you know that I like to take pictures. Sometimes, when Kate does something bad, I tend to grab my camera to take a photo of it, rather than taking care of the problem. Here are a couple of examples:

• Kate eating mud from the yard
• Kate putting a ping pong ball in her mouth
• Kate pushing Georgia in her wagon into the street.

One year photos

So it is already a couple of weeks past Kate's first birthday. I am not sure where the time went...and what I have been doing...but I seriously feel like I have not had a second to sit down at the computer and post anything on Kate's blog. Oh well. That is just how things go. I'll start with these photos.

We had Kate's 1 year photos taken and I think that there are some funny and cute ones of our family. Some are sweet and some are humorous...but all of them capture our lives perfectly!!

Pinetop

Pat, Kate, Elliott and I are in Pinetop for the long Labor Day weekend. We have really enjoyed hanging out up here this summer. Kate seems to LOVE the change of pace...and she really loves exploring new things, riding the bike, watching the birds & squirrels and just spending time with mom AND dad OUTDOORS! It is such a nice weekend escape from the heat.

There is a family of blue birds that keep visiting the corn that Kate put out on the feeder, so Kate is constantly opening the door and walking out on the porch saying "bir, bir, bir..." (bird).

She also loves digging in the flower pots with her spoon and playing on the golf course with her dog.

Kate is getting so big and is starting to talk so much. We just can't believe that she is going to be one in just a couple of days. This year has really flown by.

More from Pinetop soon! We miss everyone!!

Kate & Cabot

Most of you know that one of Kate's best friends, Cabot Hamilton, happens to be the EXACT same age as Kate. Not only were they born on the same day, but they were born in the same hospital, delivered by the same doctor only a couple of hours apart AND were in the same "wing" at Good Samaritan! Even weirder is that Pat and I met Cabot's parents, Jimmy and Kerry Hamilton, in our childbirth classes a couple of months earlier. We even bumped into each other AGAIN at Kate and Cabot's 1 week appointment at the pediatrician's office (same pediatrician) that happened to be scheduled at the exact same time. Turns out, the Hamiltons live down the street and frequent all of the same places that the Williams frequent! Small world...

So, Kerry and I enjoyed early morning walks on the Bridle Path when the girls were super little and swapped stories of sleepless nights, feeding schedules, diaper rashes...and all of the other things that new moms of newborns talk about! We got the girls together for lunch outings at Paradise Bakery or get-togethers at our houses on a regular basis -- and I am sure glad we did! It has been SO much fun getting to know them and getting to watch these two little girls grow together. We're confident that we were destined to be great friends.

11 months - Kate "petting" Cabot's hair at the Children's Museum
11 months - Cabot using Kate's collar to pull herself up to standing position.
11 months - Kate offering to share her pot...and then quickly changing her mind...
11 months - more hair petting. (This went on for several minutes)
8 months - The "Janie and Jack" twins at Paradise Bakery
9 months - Kate's first visit to the Children's Museum
7 months - enjoying lunch in the bumbos! Just starting solid foods!
7 months - Kate's toy must be WAY better...
6 months - lunch at Cabot's house
5 months - out for a stroll on The Path...
1 month - our first lunch outing at Paradise Bakery. Hard to believe that Cabot has already mastered the wave!!

As we approach Kate and Cabot's first birthday next week, it is fun to look back on their first year of friendship. We know that there will be many more years of photos of these two buddies, so stay tuned!