11 months!

It's hard to believe that in one month, Maggie will be turning 1...this year has flown by! There's not a whole lot to report from the last month. We've kept busy playing outside, swimming, going to the library for story time, picnicking with friends, and just enjoying our summer.

Some "firsts" for the month:

• celebrated her first July 4th and seemed to like the fireworks


• started crawling, finally!
  
• dropped her 4:00 bottle (now only 3 more to go!)
  
• says "uh-oh" and what we believe is the Maggie version of "what's that?"


• finally waves bye-bye but only when she feels like it!

Next month I'll be posting about her 1st birthday party and it makes me kind of sad that she's growing up so quickly. She is so sweet and lovable that I could squeeze her everyday and I do!:)

Of course the comparison shots of the two girls: Mags is the top picture and Kate is the bottom. They aren't looking as alike as I used to think. Maggie's face is much fuller and her hair isn't going to be as blond. But I still see similarities and they definitely look like sisters. Enjoy!

Kate's week in review

Kate had a super busy week last week which means that mommy and Mags also had a busy week.

Kate and Caroline had a fun week of Princess Camp at South Tulsa Dance. Becky and I aren't really sure what they did and/or learned because everytime we picked them up, they were sitting on the bench digging in their bags or playing with their sippy cups! And then on the last day when they preformed their dance for the week, the girls kind of just skipped around in circles?! Ballet ought to be interesting this fall!:) They did have a blast and the best part was the tea party on Friday with Snow White as the special guest...Kate was beyond thrilled!

Ready for the last day of camp

We also had very last minute swim lessons last week. We were super lucky to get the name of a guy who does 4 days of lessons and works wonders during those 4 days. Mr. Kem lived up to his reputation. I called him at 2:00 on Monday and he had one spot left at 4:00 (and it was his last week for lessons because he's a teacher and goes back to school soon). He taught Kate to float on her back when she needs a breathing break, she can get to the wall unassisted and she swam the length of his pool. Plus, she knows how to kick while floating to get to the wall or she can flip over and kick and use her arms to get there. I will have to say that it was super hard work and you'll see in the videos that Kate wasn't overly excited about swim lessons, but she was so proud of herself at the end of each lesson. I am so proud of her too. Her progress over those 4 days was incredible. Even though it was hard to watch her struggle to float and swim, it was well worth it.

Last lesson and so proud of herself!

The best part of Kate's week actually occurred in Dallas. Kate and I hopped a flight to Dallas on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend at Mimi and PopPop's and we were so excited to go see Dora Live on Saturday morning! Kate cried for the first 5 minutes because she did not want Swiper to be there, but we worked past that and she loved it. And of course Mimi is a sucker and bought Kate whatever her heart desired. It was a fun weekend!

Kate with her Dora loot!

This week has been much more relaxed and unscheduled. We have enjoyed hanging out and swimming this week and Mags has enjoyed getting her morning nap. It's been a great follow-up week to a busy week.

We are finally mobile!

Yea for Maggers...she's crawling! She started heading in that direction at the end of June while at Mimi and PopPop's house and slowly advanced onto actually getting from Point A to Point B. She officially became a crawler on Sunday, July 12th. It's still slow going, but when she wants something, she gets it! This is really rocking Kate Butler's world!:)

Kiddie Park

On Friday night we went with our friends the Carikers and the Schultheis families to the Kiddie Park in Bartlesville. It was such a fun time! Kate loved it and was so sad that she didn't get a chance to ride every single ride. The best part, at least for our budget, the rides were a quarter each so we only spent about $5. And Maggie got to ride the carousel so that was her big excitement for the night!

Waiting on our friends to get there

Kate's first ride...the rockets

The roller coaster was a hit, although a bit

rough and jerky!



Kate didn't move from that spot because she

didn't know how to push the pedal to move the car

and Caroline just drove in a circle the entire time.
Kylan was the only one that actually got the

concept of bumper cars!:)

Maggie loving the carousel

Over the river and through the woods

Well actually it was just straight down I35, but to Mimi and PopPop's house we went...last week. Since we have no scheduled activities this summer, the girls and I made a last-minute trip down to Haslet for the week. The drive down was great. Both girls napped a bit and Kate was content to watch a movie while Maggie finished her nap. We only had to make a 20 minute stop for a bathroom break, diaper change, and bottle.

Once there, we played outside, swam, rode scooters, followed Kamryn everywhere, and played some more. I think that both girls are so happy to have some time to not go or do anything because at home we are usually out and about playing with our friends. Maggie got 4 days of morning and afternoon naps, which is a rarity, and Kate loved getting up, putting on play clothes or her swimsuit and running free.

We stayed until Friday morning and made the drive home which did not go as well, although it had nothing to do with the girls. We got stuck in construction traffic and it added an hour onto our trip. But we made it home safe and sound.

Thanks for a fun week Mimi and PopPop!

Enjoying pancakes for dinner

We got my old Barbies out of the attic and

Kate loved playing with them.

Maggie spent a lot of time in her highchair

enjoying some new foods.

Playing with her toys on the floor

Happy birthday America!

We have had a fun and busy July 4th holiday. We started the morning with a wet parade and ended the day with some great fireworks, with some other stuff in between.

A work friend of Ryan's invited us to his neighborhood parade/breakfast/swimming party this morning. We decorated our wagon and were super excited until we woke up to lots of rain. It was the kind of rain that was enough to keep you wet yet not quite enough to keep you inside. Needless to say, we spent the parade trying to keep Kate and Maggie "dry" while also trying to keep ourselves under the umbrellas as well. The best part (to Kate) was when the fire truck showed up to lead the parade and a police car brought up the rear. The kiddos truly thought they were in a big time parade and everyone had a super fun time!

Enjoying the ride for a brief dry period

This evening we headed out to Glammy and Papaw's for dinner, along with JJ and Bubba (Aunt Jan and Uncle Billy). After dinner Kate was fired up to see the fireworks show so we went to Southern Hills and settled in for a great show. Neither girl was particularly sure about the show at the beginning, but by the finale they had turned the corner...except that Kate held her hands over her ears the entire time!

Dressed and ready to go

With Glammy and Papaw, waiting for the show to begin

Maggie was great as long as she had something to eat!

This is how Kate looked for the entire 20 minute show.

However after it was over she said "That was so fun!"

Yeah, it looks like it was!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!