Well, hello there!

Bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth, huh?

Nope, I didn't.

But I have been so busy with a recent bout of croup, having indoor picnics,

awkwardly posing in front of my artwork,

trying on Auntie's glasses,

playing with leftover snow from last February,

attending an early Valentine tea party,

and getting ready to turn two years old that I just haven't had managed to make my regular appearances in the blogging world.

Maybe I'll find my groove again this week.

Going Bonkers (again)

Last week my second cousin, Julie Page, turned a whole hand old!  I helped celebrate by joining Ju, her family, and lots of her friends at Going Bonkers on Saturday afternoon.

Mommy and Daddy didn't even get one picture of me with the birthday girl.  That's probably because she was having the time of her life "going bonkers" with all of her big girl school friends. 

Or maybe it was because I was a leeetle overwhelmed by the massive amounts of people who were trying to enjoy birthday parties or get all of the "it's been too cold to go outside all week long" energy out of their kiddos.

I did manage to find a safe haven in this red race car, though...

and an even safer haven in the arcade area upstairs.  Daddy and Mommy helped me win these tickets.  I have no idea what purpose they serve, but I sure did enjoy carrying them around!

I think you all know what I enjoyed even more than carrying tickets, though.  Cupcakes!  And Capri Sun!

Those are two tasty treats that rarely dance their way across my taste buds.  But when they do, I am one happy little girl!

And here's someone else who makes me happy.  It's my Uncle Kenny! 

I wasn't too sure about this guy for the first year of my life. Since Thanksgiving, though, I have decided that he is quite alright! 

Happy fifth birthday, Julie! 

You are a beautiful young lady and a wonderful friend. 

I am so glad that we are cousins!

(Please tell your Zsa that I am sorry for stealing this picture from her Facebook page.)

Look Out, Fancy Nancy!

There's a new diva on the rise.

And this one employs the use of plumes for a lot more than pens!



Although, to be quite honest, I think we would make much better friends than rivals.

Sunday Best

Happy Sunday, ya'll!

This dress is another one of those little numbers that Mommy's been waiting and waiting to put me in.  It was given to me by a friend at church about a year ago...so Mommy was glad that the weather and my clothing size finally worked together today!

And, because Mommy and I were ready for church super early this morning, we had some fun trying...

and trying...

and trying to take a cute mommy/daugther picture.

Clearly, the operative word here is trying.

But even though Mommy and I weren't able to master the duo shot, we did manage to get this cutie shot of me at Preston and Ian's house tonight.  This was right after Preston showed me how to use his play thermometer to take my oral temperature...

and right before I attempted to use it to take my rectal temperature. 

Don't worry, "Aunt" Tara.  I wasn't able to get through my dress/tights/diaper shield!

Mommy's Top 10 Katie Bug Quotes

Mommy and Daddy are constantly amazed at how my vocabulary is growing and developing.  It seems to them that I am adding hundreds of new words and concepts every few weeks.

Since my speech abilities are changing at such a rapid pace, I thought it would be a good idea to record Mommy's 10 favorite Katie Bug quotes as they currently stand.

#10

"I'm reeeeeady!"

#9

Where are we going?"

#8

"Let me pick you up."

#7

"I'm fusstrated!"

#6

"I understand."

#5

"Oooooh, that's cold!"

#4

"What's come next?"

#3

"So nice to see you!"

#2

"I missed you!"

#1

"I wuv you so much, Mommy!"

Sunday Best...with even more parenthesis than usual!

Happy cold Sunday!

Mommy put me in this dress as a prophetic act this morning...

 (Yes, we still have our Christmas decorations up.)

 (Can you tell Mommy had just slathered my face in Eucerin?)

and, low and behold, it was snowing by the time I was picked up from the church nursery!

By the time I woke up from my nap, though, all of the snow had melted away.

(Like my nap hair?  And the dress on top of my dress?)

Mommy and I capped off the day with a nice, little inside picnic.

And now the wait is on to see if tomorrow's school day will be delayed, cancelled, or go forward as planned.

A "Sunday Best" Extra

Yesterday in the nursery, we made little masks out of paper plates and yarn.  I was so excited about my mask and showed it to Mommy as soon as she came to my class to pick me up. 

When she checked her Facebook in the afternoon, she found that our nursery coordinator had posted this picture and conversation on her wall:

Nora (our nursery coordinator): Is that Katie Bug?


Katie Bug: Ooh I tooted...hehehe.

Nora:: Oh no, you tootie patootie.

Katie Bug:: Yes, I tooted with my mask.



Don't you know my Mommy was just so proud of me?!

Sunday Best

Happy Sunday, all!

Today kicked off 21 days of prayer and fasting for our church family.  For several years now, the Lighthouse has devoted the first of the year to a focus on prayer.  We set aside extra time during the week to pray corporately and we're encouraged to set aside extra time to pray individually.

As part of that prayer focus, Daddy found this little video to play at the beginning of today's service.  It's by Daddy and Mommy's favorite spoken word artist, Amena Brown. 

What are you focusing on at the beginning of this new year?

Christmas Break Play Date(s)

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but one of the things Mommy and I really miss since she's gone back to work is regular playdates with our friends.  In fact, we miss those playdates so much that we made sure to pack Mommy's two week Christmas Break full of them!  Here's a peek at all of the playing we've been doing:

On the first day of Mommy's break, the two of us went over to Kelly and Cooper's house.  Kelly and Mommy taught kindergarten together for five years, then they both stayed home during the 2009-2010 school year after Cooper and I were born.  Kelly is still at home with Cooper this year, and Mommy really misses having her across the school hallway!

Then, on the morning of Christmas Eve (Mommy and Daddy do not see eye to eye on whether or not the whole day can be considered Christmas Eve...so I think that description would satisfy them both), I headed out to Chick-Fil-A with Mommy and Auntie to meet our good friend, Jasmine.

(Yes, I know this one's not techincally a playdate...but Jasmine did play with me!)

Jasmine lives in the Washington, D.C. area, so we consider every chance we get to see her a real treat!

On the Sunday after Christmas I got to play with another friend I don't see much...Karsyn! 

Karsyn and her parents, Brandi and Adam, came over to our house for what was admittedly not my finest playdate hour.  Even though I was excited to see her in my home, I did not want that little cutie touching any of my toys. 

Mommy can't remember for sure, but she's fairly certain that this picture illustrates one of my carefully orchestrated move-the-toy-out-of-her-reach manuevers: 

Luckily for me, Karsyn is a good sport...she didn't even seem phased by my less than gracious hosting. 

After Sunday's playdate fail, Mommy was glad (albiet a bit nervous) that we had more Moss house playdates in the works.  She figured that it would be good for me to get in some more toy-sharing practice before my birthday party in February!  Thankfully, my sharing skills improved with each subsequent playdate.

On Tuesday, Leila came over to my house to play.  She even brought along her mommy, Michele, and auntie, Danielle.  We had a good time playing with my toys, reading books, eating snacks, and listening to my new "Wee Sing Bible Songs" CD.

The next day, Preston and Ian Ortiz came over with their mommy, Tara.  I'm pretty sure that the three of us managed to play with every single toy I own.  We are good, I tell ya'!

My playdate whirwind was brought to an end when Mommy, Auntie, and I went to visit our friends Kimberly and Camden.  Camden's family used to go to church with us (his mommy also taught at Mommy's school before he was born), but they moved almost an hour away a few years ago.  We miss them a lot...and we really enjoyed spending a couple of hours catching up with them. 

Camden is clearly a bit older than most of my playdate pals, but he sure did do a good job of entertaining me and putting up with my general toddlerness!