Kid Quotes

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Melissa: "Bella, please stay seated until you're finished with dinner."
Bella: "I don't want to."
Melissa: "Are you finished eating?"
Bella (sensing that she might be about to get into trouble): "Yes. GO IRISH!" (and she rushes off to wash her hands)

Michael got new glasses and asked how he looked.
Bella: "You look like a daddy."
Michael: "I do?"
Bella: "Yeah, you look like MY daddy." (hug)

Gabi: "Why do you get buried when you die?"
Melissa: "Um... " (thinking about sanitary requirements)
"It's so that... " (thinking about respecting the dead)
"So your body can become part of the ground, so you can be part of the great circle of life. Then your soul goes to heaven."
Michael: "Did you just use the Lion King to teach our child deep life lessons?"
Gabi: "What's a soul?"
Melissa (to Michael): "You know, you could help me out instead of just planning to post this to Facebook."
Michael: (Busted.)

Bella got a birthday card with a dinosaur eating cookies in the shape of 3s.
Gabi: "Why are there little 3s on the ground?"
Bella: "His Mommy will say, 'Oh no! We'll have to throw them away!'"
Gabi: "Maybe he's sitting on the table."
Bella: "Then his Mommy will say, 'Please don't sit on the table, Dinosaur.'"

Michael: "Bella, don't play with the toilet paper, please."
Bella: "But... it's something you roll! See?"

(Bella, attempting to hang by her teeth from the countertop.)
Michael: "Bella, don't bite the countertop. It's bad for your teeth."
Bella: "But I thought it would be fun!"

Bella: "What's brown and sticky?"
Michael (with trepidation): "What?"
Bella: "A stick!"

Gabi: "Hey, Katarina! What letter comes after N?"
Katarina: "Ohhhh!"
Gabi: "That's right! You're so smart!"

Melissa (running bath water for the kids): "Can you close the stopper, please?"
Gabi: "Why is it called a stopper?"
Melissa: "Because it stops the water from draining out."
Gabi: "Well, it's also a letter."
Melissa: "A letter?"
Gabi: "Yeah, because it lets the water out."

Gabi: "What does it mean if the odds are gray?"
Michael: "Um... what are you talking about?"
Gabi: "Like in the song, 'What though the odds be gray or small...'"

Gabi: "When you have one bug bite, that's too many bug bites."

Michael: "Happy Birthday, Bella! How old are you?"
Bella: "Um... fwee!"
Michael: "Wow! What a big girl!"
Bella: "Well, I'm a big girl and a little girl."

Gabi: "Okay Bella, you can be Cinderella, and I'll be Fairy Godmother. Call when you need me."
Bella: "Oh! Someone broke my favorite dress! Fairy GAWWWMUDDDAAAAAAH!"

In closing at Sunday School, the PreK kids prayed about giving their heart to Jesus. At the mention of "heart," Bella piped up with a story about her Daddy fixing little kids' broken hearts. Aw! She's so proud of her Daddy.

Gabi (reading): "God made the sun and the moon."
Bella: "I want to see." (looking at the picture Gabi shows her) "Where's God?"

Texas

We drove to Texas last weekend, as Michael was invited to interview in Dallas and it was a good excuse to visit my family. Uncle Brian, Uncle Stephen, and Aunt Alicia came over to Gramma Jane and Grampa's house to watch football with us.

Grampa and Kati

Uncle Stephen and Bella

Uncle Brian and Gabi

Aunt Alicia and Uncle Stephen supporting rival teams

Aunt Joy and cousin Lauren stopped by for an afternoon chat. Lauren holds a special place in my heart, as I remember watching her when she was a baby; now she's a freshman at A&M. Sometimes I see Lauren in Gabi's expressions and mannerisms.

Kati in Aunt Joy's lap

Kati exploring her rattle with cousin Lauren in the background

Mama and her girls

Bella blowing me a kiss

Grampa planned a surprise birthday celebration for me, and he invited the girls to help him bake a birthday cake while I was out of the house for a bit.

Bella sneaking a chocolate chip while baking my birthday cake

The girls loved baking with Grampa!

A trip to Texas wouldn't be complete without visiting my BFF Sydney!

Syd and Kati

I had planned a lunch with Allison on Monday, but she went into labor with her first child about an hour or so before we were going to meet, and he was born while we were on the road home. I can't wait to return to Texas to meet little Garrison! We had a wonderful morning at the park with Gramma Jane instead.

Gramma Jane with the girls

Kati swinging at the park

Bella and Gabi riding the tire swing

Old College Friends

A bunch of our friends from Notre Dame gathered in Chicago for our own mini-reunion over Labor Day weekend. We had a blast just hanging out, the weather was perfect, and it was great to watch the opening football game (and win!) with other Irish fans.

We brought Katarina with us, but my parents came to Little Rock to stay with the other two girls at home. (Thanks, Gramma Jane and Grampa!) Here you see Michael and Katarina at the Museum of Science and Industry in the farm exhibit.

Maig also brought her almost-two-year-old son, Teddy. With only two children and over a dozen adults, the kids certainly enjoyed a lot of extra attention (and we parents enjoyed a break)!

Teddy called Michael "Monkey," and he was constantly requesting "Monkey guitar" so he could dance while Michael sang. It was cute.

Above, Tim is holding baby Kati. Since this is a blog about our kids, I decided not to post pictures of all our college friends here. I will include this non-child-centered picture of me with some of the girls (Cathy, Reve, and Cynthia):

Katarina was able to see her godmother again!

Thanks for hosting all of us, Cynthia!

Two weeks prior to meeting up in Chicago, "Uncle" George and his brother, Patrick, came to visit (the weekend of Bella's birthday party). Here are some more pictures from that weekend:

Space Monkey!
Gabi's dance pose
Daddy tickling Bella

Three-Year Stats

At Annabelle's 3-yr well-child check-up, she weighed 31 lbs (50th percentile) and measured 36.5 inches tall (just under 50th percentile). She's a healthy girl, and she didn't need any immunizations, so it was an easy doctor visit.

Bella is very excited that she is old enough to go to Gabi's big-girl school now, although she only goes three mornings a week. Now Bella gets a tote bag just like Gabi!

Every morning before school, I go into the girls' room and give them backrubs and sing good-morning songs. If it's early enough, I'll climb into bed with each girl and cuddle her and stroke her hair to gently wake her up. Neither girl bounces out of bed quickly, but I can't blame them; I'm not a morning person, either.

One day, Gabi finished getting dressed before Bella was out of bed, so Gabi climbed into bed with Bella to cuddle. It was so sweet, I had to take a picture. It reminded me of when they cuddled like that almost three years ago, specifically the pictures from when I put Bella in Gabi's bed to wake her up one morning.

Six Months Old

Almost two weeks ago, Katarina turned 6 months old. On that day, Michael and I took her to Chicago to hang out with our old college friends over Labor Day weekend.

Today, our baby had her six-month well check-up, where all her measurements were 50th percentile for her age. She weighs 14 lbs 14 oz, she measures 25 7/8 inches long, and her head circumference is 16.5 inches.

Poor little Kati also got three shots and an oral vaccine. I know that vaccinations are perhaps the greatest achievement of modern healthcare and have vastly improved our society's health. I am thankful that I no longer have to fear Smallpox or Polio; I do not have to sit helpless and watch so many children fight these diseases that might kill them or might leave them paralyzed. I am also aware that the ill-informed parents who refuse vaccinations for their children have allowed Measles (and others) to make a resurgence. I would never dream of depriving my children the health protections afforded by vaccines, but it does not mean that I enjoy looking into her eyes as she feels the pinprick of each shot and cries for me to stop her pain.

Today, Katarina has been feverish, exhausted, and glossy-eyed, but she remained calm and good-natured. I spent extra time cuddling her. Poor baby had a temperature of 102.8 degrees this evening! On top of all that, our air conditioner stopped working - yet again. I called the people we have a maintenance agreement with, and they repaired it for now (with tape), but I am calling the service manager tomorrow to complain. If it takes them until the end of September to fix our A/C, then at that point it isn't very useful. Fortunately, after some Tylenol and a bath (and a properly-cooled house), Kati is feeling much better and just went down to sleep easily. Hopefully she'll sleep well tonight.