Kathryn Hawley

WARNING: Cheesy post ahead.

So Kate has officially completed the first year of her life! I've been thinking about her a lot as we've crept up onto this date and I'm amazed with all the things she is able to do at this point.

For the past few weeks I have been keeping a running list of the things I love about her and that make me smile.

• She loves finding any opportunity when the gate for the stairs isn't up. She then treats it as a race to see how fast she can climb up the stairs. When I come racing up behind her, she giggles so much she can barely continue.
• She has an obsession with my cell phone and the remote. Holding it isn't enough, she HAS to push buttons.
• I have to be sneaky when I unload the dishwasher. If she is in the general vicinity, she makes a mad dash to start pulling things out of the utensil holder and the bottom rack.
• She can unroll the toilet paper with the best of them!
• I love seeing her excitement for new foods. In the beginning, she had the most delicate little fingers as she picked up foods carefully with her thumb and pointer finger. Now, who needs delicate!?! Kate's an eating champ and is currently in the lead over Danny.
• Her walking has improved a lot over the past couple weeks. She still isn't ready to take the plunge and give up crawling, but her cute little, not completely balanced steps are so fun to watch. You can tell she gets enjoyment and satisfaction out of her new found ability.
• I have enjoyed the summer because she has more skin showing than over the winter months and I love it! Her soft, snuggly skin just invites lots and lots of kisses!
• I love her piercing, blue eyes. She really looks at you. It almost feels like she's looking at your soul.
• And I can't get over her scrunchy nose when she smiles. It's one of my favorite things about her.

Kate is an absolute delight. I am so happy that we are lucky enough to have her in our home.

4th of July Weekend

I have kinda been ignoring my blog lately. While I have enjoyed reading up about all of you, I have not felt like posting something myself. (And I have been having fun with Facebook.) But with all the excitment of Dan getting home from his LONG business trip right before the 4th of July, we spent the next five consecutive days together with our family. And it was awesome.

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays and this year did not fail to disappoint. On the 3rd we had a fun ward activity. And Danny held perfectly still while getting his face painted. I could hardly believe it. He's never still.

The actual 4th of July was spent at a park for the community fireworks. The fireworks this year were less than spectacular, (possibly due to the recession??) but the kids had a great time. We met up with several of our neighbors and the kids were entertained with a beach ball for like two hours.

But THEY were amazed by the fireworks. So that's all the matters.