Breakfast with Santa...Part 2

Kate was invited to another breakfast with Santa by her little friend, Hannah. Here they are waiting for Santa to arrive. They look so anxious!

When Santa arrived, he gathered all the kids and read them a Christmas Story. Kate was a little nervous at first but she settled in nicely for the story on mommy's lap.
All the kids had a turn sitting on his lap. Kate was a trooper!

This time she only had the patience to sit with Santa for a few snapshots, then she didn't want to have anything to do with him...go figure! Our family picture had potential, if daddy had his eyes open, mommy wasn't talking, and Kate didn't have her fist in her mouth fighting back the tears!!

Decorating with Little Laura

Kate didn't stay interested in decorating the tree on the night we actually decorated, but she was very excited the day after when she woke up and found it lit up with pretty lights and waiting for her to add the candy canes.
Ok, so up until now, it has been said that Kate looks just like her daddy. This picture is proof that she is my daughter. If her hair were darker, she would be me at 18 months old.

Another picture of little Laura...

What a Mess!

We woke on this morning and found our tree on the floor. Appearently when you pick a tree out, you're suppose to look at the trunk to make sure it is straight. Josh and I pick out a tree based on how pretty it is!! I guess we've learned our lesson the hard way!

Breakfast with Santa

We started our Christmas festivities with a breakfast with Santa at our church. We had a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon and got to see all the primary kids sing some Christmas songs before the big event with Santa. We weren't sure how Kate was going to react to Santa. We had prepped her for weeks and she always got excited when she saw pictures of Santa or saw him on TV, saying, "Santa, ho-ho-ho" each time she saw him. On the way to the breakfast she said she was going to give Santa a hug...and she did!

Fall Pics

We have once again fallen behind on our postings. I'll blame it on the first trimester and fall/winter germs! Here are some random fall pictures before Christmas.

Here is Kate helping daddy with some fall leave pick-up, she is such a good helper!

Kate loves putting on her dresses for church, she really likes wearing her boots and telling everyone about them - I had to post these, look how big she is!


Another...not sure why the remote was sooo funny!
Here she is with her bath buddy, Peyton during one of Peyton's sleepovers.

Happy Veterans Day

We decided that we should go and support our US Veterans. Kate had never been to a parade before, but she loved watching the marching bands go by and waving at all of the veterans.

Afterwards, we went to Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop for some lunch. Kate was so good she got her very own kid's scoop of ice cream. She was in heaven!

I almost forgot to mention...we went on our first light rail ride since it's been running. Kate enjoyed the ride as was obvious by her "wheeeee" every time the train would leave a stop. She was sure to wave and say goodbye to everyone that was outside the window too! What a fun day!

Little Red Riding Hood

Here she is - the cutest Little Red Riding Hood in Charlotte! Along with her pals, Peyton the Pumpkin and Minnie Mouse (aka Chloe)....

I tried to post more pictures, but for some reason they rotated the wrong way. This one was too cute not to post. Mimi and Kate at a church trunk or treat.

Buddies

Mimi snapped these cute pics one week day. Can't you tell they're related?!!
Kate the hug monster. She gives them out like candy...

Windy Hill Apple Orchard

While daddy was in South Carolina for a conference, Mimi, Kate, and I went apple picking at Windy Hill. We had a great time picking apples, eating apple cidar donuts, and drinking apple slushes. We missed you daddy!!

What Hurricane?

Hurricane Hannah didn't stop this beach trip! We took our chances and headed to St. Simons Island, GA. Glad we did because the weather was gorgeous the entire time and we had so much fun. This was Kate's first beach trip and the first time that she met her little pal, Alie who is 8 months old. It was great to see Niki and Erik and their beautiful baby girl. Here's some of the things we did while we were there: daily morning walks on the beach, building sand castles, collecting sea shells, looking for crabs in the shallows, climbing the light house, eating great food and fancy italian, enjoying the breeze on the pier, visiting church ground and gardens, swimming in the pool, and having a wonderful time with our friends. Thanks Niki and Erik for sharing the good times with us!

Our Genius

While other kids are learning the finer things in life, Kate enjoys a good brain scratch...Oh, what are we going to do with our little dutch boy?

Piggies!!

I was thrilled to find that we could finally pull these curls into some pigtails. After a full day with pigtails and only pulling them out of her hair 3 times at the mall, all and all they were a success. I know that we're a little biased since she is our little girl, but how adorable is she???!!!

Running around

We spent all day Saturday running around doing errands and shopping. Kate is not like her mommy, who will just throw on some gauchos and a tank top. Who may or may not brush her hair before she throws it into a ponytail. No...Kate must curl her hair, put on make-up and be decked out with the cutest outfits from head to toe! Definitely not like her mommy!

Before...

After...
Watch out Kate Moss...Kate Vire is in practice!

Nana and Papa in Charlotte!

We had a nice weekend with Nana and Papa. We got an early start Saturday and went to some local garage sales. Papa is making money on ebay and can't pass up a good deal! Then we went to the Flying Biscuit for breakfast. It was delicious!!
We ended the day with ice cream at our favorite square. The live band was KT and the Sometime Band. They were so good, Kate couldn't sit still.
We can't wait until the next visit. Love you Nana and Papa!

New Hairdo

Seriously, we are running out of do's for Kate. Her hair isn't long enough to put in pigtails and has to have a bow in it for it not to look like a clown wig! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Off to Asheville!!

Last weekend we took a trip to Asheville, NC to visit with the Zellers!! Jack was there and my oh my is he a cutie! We spent Saturday visiting with the family at Johnny and Daryll's house on the mountain...playing and popping bubbles!

Then we took a trip to their basement...and look what they had! These pictures don't quite do this train track justice. It had an entire room devoted to it, with lots of neat details and working parts that moved and lit up. On Sunday, we went into town to walk around the festival that was going on. It was hot, so Jack and Kate relaxed in their strollers with a glass of cold water.
We couldn't leave without a ride on the Merry-Go-Round...do you know the difference between a carousel and a merry-go-round? I learned it at my trip to the zoo. A carousel can have all kinds of different animals and a merry-go-round is only horses. Fun fact!

Bye-bye Asheville, Kate has left the building.