New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, we had a fabulous dinner at Steve and Diana's. Darryl and Georgia were there, too, as well as another couple that Steve and Di had just met. :o) Di prepared a fantastic pasta dinner--and I enjoyed the leftovers she sent home with us for a couple of days afterward! (Thanks, Di!)



The girls. Oh, the girls. They had a blast playing, playing, playing. Jamie got a super-fun play kitchen for Christmas, and Kate could not get enough of it! Her father declared that night that she needs a kitchen of her own. ;o) Maybe we can teach her to whip up a few dishes--or at least to wash some--soon. ha!


Moms and Babes


Daddies and Daughters

As usual, I took a bunch of photos. Here are some of them:


The Hanley Family


The Bakers. Hey, guess what! Cammie is going to be a big sister! So exciting! Congratulations!


A little NYE dancing with Daddy


Mommy's turn!


Jamie smiles for the camera


Kate climbed on one of Jamie's riding toys and was trying to scoot herself along. Jamie saw her and started pushing her--it was so cute! Do you like their Hanna playdresses?


Cammie loved this little doggie toy of Jamie's.


Here she is getting ready to feed the doggie a snack. LOL!


Kate finishes up the dinner dishes. Happy New Year!

Top 10 Baby Things from 2008

Happy New Year's Eve! It's that time of the year ... you know, when all kinds of best-of/worst-of lists are being compiled regarding the previous 12 months. So in honor of 2008, we thought we'd share our top 10 baby products from 2008. And by "baby products" I mean anything I consider a baby product. ;o) (For the record, the DH doesn't agree with me on some of these. He should post his own list on his blog. TIA.)

These are in no particular order, by the way ... just some of our favorites ...

1. The Little People School Bus Ride-On Toy. One of Kate's absolute favorites this year. Hands down.
   
2. Busy Ball Popper. Cammie gave this to Kate for her birthday, and it has been a major hit in this house. I have heard other parents sing its praises as well.
   
3. Pacimals. You may recall that back in April, Kate was a volunteer model for this new product. So she got one for free--and she STILL loves it. If you have a paci baby, check these out!
   
4. Membership at Zoo Atlanta. We have really gotten our money's worth with this one. I highly recommend adding the guest option so you can meet a friend there to "do the zoo." It's a great outing, a wonderful place to go to enjoy the outdoors. And if you have a membership, you don't have to worry about seeing everything in one visit. Plus, parking is free!
   
5. Urban Babies Books. I fell in love with the original title (Urban Babies Wear Black) back before Kate was born. This year, Kate has modeled an interpretation of each book in the series so far--and even received a special gift from the author!
   
6. Circo (Target) brand socks and shoes. I know a lot of people swear by some of the expensive toddler shoes--but I just cannot bring myself to pay a lot for shoes that my child will only wear for a few months. Her own pediatrician said not to spend a lot for her shoes--no joke! We have had various brands, but the ones we keep coming back to are the Circo brand from Target. Specifically, Kate's pink flower sandals and her brown Mary Janes have been huge hits this year. I also love the solid-colored Circo socks that are sold individually. We've actually tried some of the more expensive brands (bought on clearance, of course)--including Hanna Andersson, Janie and Jack, Gymboree, etc.--but nothing beats these Circo socks, IMO. Seriously.
   
7. How Fast They Grow Scrapbook Pages. LOVE this Web site. Very cool templates, excellent customer service, fantastic quality. I never thought I would want to do digital scrapbooking at all, but I am a huge fan of How Fast They Grow.
8. Little People DVDs. Kate does love her Little People. Their DVDs are her favorites.
9. Photography by Lori Gordon and Jody Williams. These two talented ladies have captured some fabulous images of our little girl this year. Check them out--you will not be disappointed.
10. Kirkland (Costco) Baby Wipes. I had heard so many wonderful things about these wipes. We love them, too!

Honorable mention: Kate's nesting blocks; Parents brand drum/music set--specifically, the drumsticks; Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets (or the CFA kid's meal in general); Hanna Andersson and Gymboree clothing--all bought on sale, of course; Kate's piggy bank toy; library story time.

So what products would be on your list? Please share!

Christmas Catch-Up

Tanna had to work on Christmas, so we showed Kate the presents by the tree before he left for work that morning.

Before he had to leave, Tanna specifically wanted her to open the Connect Four (he knew she would go crazy over it) and the Leap Frog magnetic alphabet set.


After breakfast, we busted open the Fridge Farm set.


We left three cookies for Santa. He ate two of them and part of the third. I was actually going to take a photo of what he left behind--but before I knew it, Kate had swiped the cookie off of the plate and was walking around, eating it. LOL!


Kate and I spent the morning at home, and then we drove to Halabaji and Halmoni's house for lunch.


This photo completely cracks me up. Tanna's Mom has this cool rice cooker that speaks Korean! LOL! Seriously, it tells you when the rice is ready, etc. I asked her to pose like she is listening to it--hahaha! Doesn't it kind of look like the cooker is smiling and winking at the camera? Do you see the face?


Tanna joined us for a late lunch after work. We had a nice Korean meal. Kate **loved** the marinated beef--she could not get enough. She seriously ate almost a whole one after she had already eaten her lunch earlier.


Kate leads us in some Christmas hymns.


After a late nap, Kate opened her Christmas stocking.


Here she is with some of her stocking loot. The little Publix truck was a hit! We do love our Publix.

We had our Jesus birthday cupcake on Nativity night, but here is a photo from last year on Christmas evening. Look how she has grown in a year:


Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Christmas Eve

I know--I am behind the times! I have a slew of things to share with the Internets, so I best get started, huh? I wanted to write about the Christmas activities before I forget some of the details ... and before New Year's gets here.

So ... here we go. We'll start with Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve morning, Kate and I ran some errands. We had a few last-minute things to pick up. Also, Kate had received a Target gift card from her Grammy and Grampy, so I took her to the toy department. "She" picked this out:


It is the Fisher-Price Little People Learn About Town set. She especially loves the little red "apples" (they are really little red discs that have apples on them) that fit into the tree slots. Hmmmmm ... sounds like another game she really enjoys lately.


I like the fact that this folds up nice and neat.


Have you ever been to the grocery store on Christmas Eve? That place is NUTS! We went to one Publix and could not find a parking spot (SERIOUSLY), so we drove to another. That is one good thing about living where we do ... plenty of grocery stores close-by.


Kate took her afternoon nap, and then Tanna came home from work in time for us to make the 5 o'clock service at church. Here's Kate all dressed and ready to go!


We attended the family service (children of all ages are welcome), but we opted to put Kate in the nursery because she would not sit still for the entire program. Maybe next year, though! Everyone (children, adults and animals!) did a great job with the Christmas pageant, and the candlelight part of the service was just beautiful.


Tanna's iPhone even participated. Note the lady in the folding chair by the pew. haha! Our church has several services on Christmas Eve, and this one was PACKED--there was overflow seating, too.


Afterward, we picked up Kate and took her out to see the animals. It had started to rain some, so they were a bit wet. The camel wasn't out at that point--but it was neat to see the big guy (?) during the program. Tanna was like, "Animals in church!" (Said in a funny kid voice--I was cracking up, but I guess you had to be there.) There are animals at Easter, too--well, at least a donkey on Palm Sunday, if I remember correctly.


When we got home, Santa stopped by! Bet you didn't know he was Asian, huh? To be more specific, he's Korean.


Ready for a long night of traveling!


In our PJs and ready for bed!


We put out a little something for Santa and his reindeer.


Before we watched It's a Wonderful Life, Tanna and I had roast beast for dinner. It was delish! It smelled so yummy, too!


This photo was taken just a few moments before Kate fell out of her crib! We knew it was just a matter of time before our crazy climber scaled her crib slats. The loud thump and then the screams were so scary. We had just put her down and were getting ready to eat. She was on the floor when I got to her room--we think she stepped on her baby doll's head for a little extra height (just enough to get her leg over the side). Her mouth was bleeding a little where she bit it when she fell, but thank the Lord she was OK.


Sometime during the night, Santa stopped by.
Merry Christmas!

Kate's Favorite Christmas Gift

1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 1234 ... Connect Four!

Kate **loves** this game! Of course, she does not understand how to play it, but she sure loves to put the chips in the slots, dump them out, and then do it all over again. She also is keen on lining the chips up on various table tops, window ledges and other surfaces. LOL!

The lodge where we stayed with my family in Tennessee had several games, including Connect Four--which was put to good use that weekend. I loved Connect Four when I was younger--in fact, I got it for Christmas one year! Anyway, when we got back, Tanna said we should get Kate her own Connect Four for Christmas. And so we did.

She has played with it a ton already and has thoroughly enjoyed herself, to say the least.


Christmas morning


Christmas evening

_______

Here are a few more Connect Four photos from a few weeks ago:


Riley and Hannah


Caleb, Ah-Pah and Riley


Uncle Johnny


Steven, Grampy and Josh


Mommy and Kate

Happy Birthday, Halmoni!

Halmoni and Kate @ Kate's first birthday party

Today is Halmoni's 63rd birthday! We hope she is having a wonderful day today. She and Halabaji had a full day of church activities, so we are planning to celebrate later this week. Halmoni is a very hard worker--she still works full-time as an RN. She is an IV nurse--she is well-known as the woman to call when someone cannot find a vein. She gets those needles in there lickety-split!

Halmoni first came to the United States all by herself when Tanna was just a year old. A participant in a nursing-exchange program, she didn't know a word of English. (OK, maybe she knew "hello," but I am not for sure.) She left her three children with her husband back in Korea--can you imagine? She worked over here, saving every penny she could so her family could join her a year later. Why did she do this? The answer is simple: They were in search of the American dream--and they found it. She and Tanna's father basically worked their asses off for years to make a better future for their children.

I hope we never forget or take for granted how fortunate we are to live in this wonderful country ... or the sacrifices of those who have gone before us to provide for a better future. Happy Birthday, Halmoni! Thank you for your Christian example and for your admirable work ethic. We love you!


Three years ago, Tanna and I surprised his Mom with a birthday cake at her work. Her name is Sun, so that is why there is a cheery sun on the cake. :o)


Happy Birthday!