Rolling into a New Year

It's almost impossible to believe that 2011 is already coming to a close. It must be true that time speeds up as you grow older, and even more so when you have children. Katherine is sure ready to roll into the new year:

This has been one of the most wonderful years of our lives. Katherine brings our family much joy, and a new perspective every day. Here are our family highlights from this year:

Daddy: Katherine saying "Dah-dee" for the first time
Mommy: Getting to have lunch with Katherine and Ted every day
Katherine: Being born.

Katherine is fast asleep right now, and hopefully won't wake up before 2012. Mommy and Daddy aren't too far behind.... So Happy New Year from our family to yours!! Zzzzzzzz you next year!

Baby's First Christmas!

Katherine had a wonderful first Christmas. We enjoyed wonderful time with family, and we were all spoiled with gifts!  Katherine loves all her new toys, books and clothes. We're incredibly grateful for everyone's generosity.

We unfortunately forgot our camera at the Christmas Eve celebration, and our camera wasn't working on Christmas Day. We're in the process of stealing pictures from more responsible family members (any donations can be sent to: julie.m.block@gmail.com) ;-) and we promise pictures soon!
(Update-- we're currently babysitting Luke, so we've been able to snag some pictures from the Romitos, but we won't turn down any additional donations!) :-)

 

Luckily for us, the Christmas season has just begun, so no one can complain about our post being added late ;-)

We pray your family has had a safe and joyful Christmas. May Christ's joy fill your homes during this happy time!

A Good Report

We have a lot to report! Here's a news summary from the last few days:

We had a great time on the Polar Express with Grambie and the Berna clan. Katherine got to meet Santa Clause (she loved his curly white hair), and enjoyed watching the other kids on the train ride.

Katherine also had her 9 month check-up. The doctor reported she was in great health, and all the nurses ooh-ed and aah-ed over her. Katherine was happy to share big smiles, and did a great job at the check-up! She's 16 1/4 pounds and 28 inches.

Last, but CERTAINLY not least-- Oma, Opa, Aunt Mary Beth and Casey are in town! We're very grateful for a safe trip up from Texas, and we're looking forward to a fun-filled week!

9 is so fine!

Katherine reached a landmark today-- she has lived outside the womb as long as she lived inside the womb! (Give or take a couple days).

We celebrated this morning with "cake" (pancakes). Katherine loves pretty much all table food, and was happy we shared with her. If you look closely in the first picture, you can even see her two top teeth poking through:

uh oh!!

Over the last week or so Katherine's first word seems to have emerged... one of her new favorite games is to drop something, then look down at it and say "hmm-ho!" She sometimes practices in her crib before and after naps, singing "hum ho!" over and over again.

Of course, every time we bring out the video camera she gets shy, but you can sort of hear her saying uh-oh in this clip before bath time:

Other sounds are less distinguishable... She seems to be using the term "ma ma ma" to mean "I want something (Mommy, Daddy, milk, or "I want out of the carseat...").  And she seems to razz when ever she wants to say "no."

Right now Katherine "ma ma ma" play, so we'll post more updates later!

Getting the "Block Party" started

Over the last couple months Mommy has been working on her party planning business, and it looks like things are finally good to go! Many pieces have fallen into place, and the plan is to begin delivering meals in the Pittsburgh area at the beginning of next year. 

You can check out the new site here:

www.block-parties.com

There are still many pieces to work on. The next goal is to add party planning resources onto the website, and to add more pictures all throughout the site. It's a bit intimidating to try starting a small business, but you only learn by taking risks! We're all excited to see where this Party goes, so be sure to check out Block Parties and spread the word!!

Deck the Halls

We've slowly been preparing for Christmas with decorations around the house. Katherine particularly loved some garland we put on the stairs, so this afternoon, Mommy decided to set up the Christmas tree. As you can see, Katherine was more than happy to help:

Hopefully Katherine will have just as much fun helping us put ornaments on the tree (we're a little worried that she'll have too much fun "helping" to take them down)!

Happy Birthday Grandpop!!

Happy belated birthday to Grandpop and his twin sister, Aunt Kathy!!!

We hope Grandpop has time to get a great nap in for his birthday, and we look forward to celebrating with Grandpop and Mommy's family tonight!!