2011 in Review

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy New Year, Friends! 

2011 was a good year for me, but I sure am looking forward to what 2012 has in store!

Merry Day After Christmas

I hope you had yourself a merry little Christmas.  I know I sure did!

My Moss cousins were with us for Christmas this year...and there are few things in this world that make me happier than playing with my cousins McB and Baby C-Wa! 

Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy didn't get to spend so much time with them.  Daddy came down with strep throat just a few days before Christmas, so he spend a good portion of the holidays quarantined at our house.  Grampa came and rescued me, though, so that I could play with my cousins in a germ-free environment!  Once Mommy knew that Daddy was on the mend she joined in the festivities, too.

Thankfully, by Christmas Eve evening Daddy had enough antibiotics in his system to be able to join the rest of the Moss clan in Christmas merriment!  (I'm missing a whole lot of pictures here because Mommy forgot to take our camera to the Moss Christmas celebration.  I'll have to catch you up with those photos once we get some of the pics from Gramma and Grampa.)

We also celebrated Christmas with the Pierce side of the family on Christmas Day.  Between both sets of Grands and my own parents, I have three stockings to open at Christmas...and I think I have decided that stockings are awesome!!  I just love seeing all of the little treats and treasures that are hiding inside.

On Christmas morning, Mommy and Daddy gave me this cute little pink guitar.

I've sure have been jammin' with that thing!  Even though I love it, Daddy is a little disappointed that it didn't quite live up to its online claims.  He got it all tuned up for me, only to hear it back out of tune the instant it was placed back in my hands.  Oh well, I'll have fun with it...even if Daddy has to wear ear plugs while I play!

My parents also gave me this other (unfinished) gift, which was actually sitting in plain sight in our garage for the last week or so.  In fact, when I saw Daddy building it I asked if I could get in on the action.  Since I assumed that he was building a bookshelf (instead of a dress up storage unit for me) he saw no harm in letting me join in the fun.  Here I am "helping" while wearing Daddy's hearing protection headphones and playing with his air compressor hose. 

 And here I am this morning helping Daddy paint my Christmas present.  Aren't my parents sneaky?  They know if you give a preschooler a paint brush you can get her to help create her own present.

When Daddy and I are finished painting my dress up storage shelf it will look like this, but brown.

Did any of you help make (or buy) your own Christmas gifts this year?  If not, you should really give it a try next year.

 

Yay for Christmas!

Hey, ya'll!  Mommy's got two whole weeks off of work, so she's letting me get in a teeny bit of blogging time.

Right now, the most exciting thing happening in my life is Christmas!  I love the songs of the season, the beautiful decorations, the yummy goodies that keep magically appearing at our house, and (of course) the presents.

  Speaking of presents, I did get to exchange them this week with my good buddies Ian and Preston.  I gave them the game "Don't Break the Ice".  The three of us took turns playing (well, Preston was really the only one who truly played the game) it for a while, until I decided that the mallet make a much better wand.  Mommy knew the game had made a huge impression on me when she overheard me tell someone later in the day that I gave the boys a game called "Put the Gorilla in the Snow". 

A few weekends ago, my family got into the Christmas spirit by helping stuff 350 stocking for kids in our church's neighborhood.  We filled the stockings with yummy candy and fun toys (Mommy even spotted a tiny Guy Smiley doll in the mix).  I sure did have a good time filling those stockings, even though I seriously slowed down the assembly line! 

Current Cuteness

There have been a few phrases coming out of my mouth lately that Mommy thinks are just too cute.  Some of them are factually incorrect, but she just can't bring herself to correct me yet.

Her favorite phrase is my answer to anyone who asks how much I weigh.  For the past few weeks, my reply has been, "Fortyfifth pounds of dollars years ago."
The first few times I said that Mommy had to ask me to repeat it over and over.  She just couldn't figure out what I was saying.  Even though she know what to expect now, she still has no idea where I came up with this mashed up statement.

Mommy also likes it when I ask her to sing the "Baby Jesus" song.  I think she said it's actually called "Away in a Manger".

Usually, if someone asks me what I want to do when I grow up my answer is either "be a princess" (which Mommy is always trying to steer me away from) or "I don't want to grow up." Last week while I was in the car with Mommy, though, I randomly announced, "When I grow up I am going to be in Haiti and Tajikistan."  Mommy thought this was pretty exciting since it appeared I was desirous of emulating my Daddy and Auntie (this past summer Daddy went to Haiti, Auntie went to Tajik and Haiti).  When she asked what I planned to do in Haiti and Tajikistan, though, she realized that my aspirations only involved "riding in the back of the bus".

Just about any time I am describing something that happened in the past I refer to it as "yesterday". I went to Jasmine's wedding, visited the splash pad, and hunted for Easter eggs all just yesterday.  It was a very busy day.

An Early Thanksgiving

Last Friday, Daddy hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the young adults in our church.  (If you're wondering why I didn't include Mommy's name in that last sentence, it's because she didn't do any of the work for this little party.  It was allllll Daddy!)

We had 31 people at our house that night.  31 people and a lot of really good food!  There were so many people and so much food that Daddy decided our best bet was to eat outside, Pilgrim-style (you do know that the Pilgrims had globe lights and paper plates, don't you?).

When the night was over, we had banana pudding, peanut butter pie, cake balls, some kind of delicious spice cake, stuffing, turkey, brisket, and fruit salad left in our fridge.  Mommy's thinking she may not have to cook for at least a week.

My favorite part of the night was roasting marshmallows and making smores with my Daddy.  I was in such a good mood that I even let Mommy eat the last two bites of my smore sandwich.  Of course, I also threw a fit at bedtime when I demanded the remainder of said sandwich...only to find that it was deep inside Mommy's belly.

Mommy's favorite part of the night was this:

 Evidence that nearly every single toy I own was played with and loved on that night.  You probably can't tell in this picture, but even my dress up basket was raided by a few of the boys who were playing with me.

All in all, it was a really great way to kick of the Thanksgiving season.  Our family is certainly thankful for each and every member of our young adult group at church.  They really are extended family!

Dancing the Night Away

Friday night, my family was thrilled to be guests at the wedding of our friends, Tammy and Ali.

"Aunt" Michele did a fabulous job on their cake (no suprise there).  Her cakes are always just as delicious as they are beautiful, but Mommy thought this one was especially yummy.

Being that the wedding didn't begin until 7:30, by the time the reception partying got started I was already a bit of a crank-a-saurus.  That means the whole family picture that Mimi envisioned taking place was not eeeeven gonna happen.  We did, however, manage to walk away from the evening with this great picture of Mommy, Mimi, and Auntie.

And this is where I spent the vast majority of the evening!

My routine went like this:

Dance, Dance, Dance

Eat Dinner

Dance, Dance, Dance

Eat Cake

Dance

Dance

Throw a Fit

Dance

Forced to leave the dance floor to head home

The wedding was an hour away from our house, so by the time I got to bed it was around 10:30.  Even though I really did have the time of my life at the reception, I sure did make Mommy and Daddy pay for my late night the next day!

Trunk or Treat

Hey, guys!  We're still alive over here in the Moss household.  I have had many requests for a little blog update, so Mommy reluctantly agreed to let our computer be used for some non-school related work.

For Trunk or Treat this year, Mommy made me a little sheep costume. 

It was based on her very favorite childhood costume that Mimi made for her.

(Mommy decided to forgo face paint with me...I guess she saw that as one huge meltdown waiting to happen.)

Here are a few of my other friends dressed up for the night's festivities:

Mr. Ian was a biker dude...or "motorcycle man" as he called it.

And Leila was an adorable ballerina.  Her Mommy had initially intended for her to be Zoe from Sesame Street, but Leila would have nothing to do with the Zoe hat "Aunt" Michele made for her.  I think she looked great as Ballerina Leila, though!

One of the best parts of the night was getting to sit on a real live horsey!

 

But my favorite activity (that didn't involve candy) was bouncing in this teeny bounce house. 

I did wait in line for the regular sized bounce house, but as soon as it was my turn to crawl in I started to flip out about the amount of "big kids" I would have to share it with.  This guy, however, was right up my alley!

Streamlining the Morning Routine

Even though Mommy's job is 30 times closer to home this year, she's been seeking out ways to streamline our morning routine.  Here is one thing that she's started doing that has really helped get our mornings rolling...and thereby enabled her to sleep just a little bit longer!

Create a Clothing Plan

Each weekend, Mommy has been planning out what she and I will wear for the upcoming week.  She checks the weather forecast, looks at what we've got going on each night, then decides what the two of us will wear each day.  Once that's done, she pulls all of the clothes that we'll need to make sure that everything is clean.  Then she irons all of our outfits at one time and hangs them up together in our respective closets.  Here's a little picture of our clothes ready to go for the week.

This new habit means that all Mommy has to do in the morning (or usually the night before) is grab the "outfit of the day" and throw it on!

Sunday Best

I know, I know...you are in shock. It's been forever since I've put together a Sunday Best post. And it's been foreverer since I posted two days in a row.

Our Sunday started out like just about any other Sunday.  Once we got to church, though, things became a little more unroutine!  By the time we left church after service, Mommy's jeans had throw up on them (from a little guy in the nursery), my head had been banged twice, and my leg had fallen victim to a painful little bug bite.

Thankfully, all of those things were easily taken care of with a little help from our washing machine, Mommy's kisses, Zyrtec, lunch, and a nice nap.

We had our own little sitcom moment in the evening when I slipped and banged my knee on the kitchen floor.  Mommy took me to the bathroom and lovingly placed a cutie Dora bandaid on that boo-boo spot.  Then, she gave me a great big hug and said, "I sure do love you."  I gave her a big squeeze right back and replied in my sweetest toddler voice, "I sure do love my bandaid."

I'm Still Alive!

I know it's been a while since you've heard from me, so I thought I should probably let everyone know that things are still going well in the Moss household!  Here's what we've been up to in the last month or so:

I started taking dance classes at a dance studio super close to our house.  My class is called Creative Movement and it's designed for 2.5-3.5 year olds.  We meet once a week for an hour and I love it!  So far I've learned the "Bear Walk", "Camel Crawl", "Turkey Tuck", and demi-plie.

Mommy has had two major changes in her life.  The first is that she is back at her old school this year.  Our family knows that this move was God-ordained, but that doesn't mean that it's been easy (in fact, this is a big part of the reason that you haven't heard from me in the last month and a half)!  Even with all the difficulties Mommy has encountered, she is really enjoying being back at her "old" school...and working less than one minute from home.

Mommy's second change is that she has joined a Zumba class...and she loves it!  A little over a month ago, "Aunt" Tara discovered a Zumba studio right next door to my dance studio.  She and Mommy tried it out one night and were hooked immediately.  This one hour workout is jam packed from start to finish, and it has caused Mommy to discover that every single spot on her body is capable of sweating.  Even with all that sweat, though, Mommy generally has a huge smile on her face through the whole workout. And that smile just keeps getting bigger as she's beginning to notice more definition in her calf, thigh, and ab muscles.



Daddy has had a really busy month and a half, too.  At the beginning of August, he spent a week leading a team from our church on a missions trip to Haiti.  While he was there, he learned to listen to the Holy Spirit with greater clarity and developed a greater desire to personally support the missionaries our church is in partnership with. 

Daddy also recently had his acting debut, as he was "cast" in an in-house JC Penney promotional video.  And just let me tell you, most of us have noooo idea the amount of time that goes into shooting a 30 second video clip.  Whoowee.

Katelyn, Version 2.5

I hit the big 2.5 at the beginning of this month!  (That's 2 and 6 months, in case you were wondering)

Here are some things you should know about me at 2.5:

I wear mostly 2T clothes, but can still fit into a few of my 18 month dresses and tops.  I even wear one or two pairs of 12 month shorts (that's what happens when you have no booty).

I'm just getting into a size 7 shoe.

I am a big fan of nursery rhymes.  That's not really anything new, but I have fairly recently started acting them out in real life.  I'll stick my thumb inside a PB&J, pull out a "plum", and declare what a good girl I am...or I'll put on my purple bonnet and walk around the house looking for my sheep...or I'll sit on a countertop and call myself Humpty Dumpty.  While I was in Canada, I got to visit a little nursery rhyme filled park called Storybook Gardens.  I thought I was in heeeeaven!

I spend a lot of time singing, and even make up my own songs from time to time.

I love to dance!  Mommy and Daddy have been thinking about enrolling me in dance classes soon.

Before I take a nap or go to bed at night, I like to make sure everything is picked up off the floor in my room. (And Mommy said, "Amen!".) 

I am very into clocks.  Digital, analog, and (especially) cuckoo versions are all just fine by me!  This is a picture of me trying to show my "Animal Baby" magazines to the cuckoo bird inside my great uncle's cuckoo clock. 

I will eat just about anything (at least once, anyway), but my very favorite foods are macaroni & cheese, chickpeas, mango, plain M&Ms, black beans, and scrambled eggs.  I am not such a fan of olives, hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, or soy milk.

I really want a baby brother and a baby sister.  I tell my mommy that at least a few times a week, hoping that she'll eventually get the hint.  So far, though, I don't think it's working.

My New House

Last weekend, Gramma and Grampa decided that I needed a new house.  That's right...my very own new play house!

Daddy and Grampa have been slowly putting it together (way too hot to tackle this thing in one fell swoop!), and I've been enjoying every bit of the process.

I even invited a few family members into the partially finished house for a little dance party.

I kind of doubt Grampa and Daddy will be playing in here too much once the roof is put on!

Here's what the finished product should look like.  I can't wait!

FAQs

This summer I have become a master at the art of questioning.  I ask questions all day long.  Although I love to hear the answers, I often keep asking follow up questions until I finally arrive at the answer I'm most interested in: "I don't know."

Isn't it just so much fun to stump people older than you?!

In case you're wondering, here are a few inquisitive statements that have caused delight, agitation, confusion, and/or uproarious laughter in my home:

"Should we cuddle?  Should we snuggle?"
Mommy and Daddy just love to hear me ask this one.  I utter these words just about every time I wake up from a nap...even though I know the answer will always be "Yes!"

"What is that smell about?"
My olfactory senses have become much quite keen over the past few months.  In fact, I probably ask this question at least 5 times a day.  Body odors, certain foods, animals, and unsanitary conditions all drive me crazy.  Earlier this week, I had a mini gag fest over my own gass passing!

"What is heaven?"
This question seemed to stump Mommy the most!  I'm pretty sure she thought she had another year or so to prepare for this one.  For all of the heaven-related thinking, singing, and learning Mommy has done in her lifetime, she was really suprised at how difficult it was for her to explain heaven to me.

"Mommy, when you were in high school, did you poop?"
By far, this is the question that has elicited the most laughs.  I can't even tell you how many times I've heard Mommy repeat this question to other people...which, of course, has only ensured that I will keep asking it.  At least it's one Mommy always knows how to answer!