Cate Christmas

Winter!

We have really had a blast with all the snow! Good times and good snowman!

Amelia's 3rd Birthday

See Julian Run

Well, Bele Cher was this past weekend and every year there is a 5K road race held as part of the festival. It's a pretty intense (hilly) run and thankfully my two girl friends Robin and Ashley ran it along with me. It was a blast. This marked my 4th race this summer. There's just something about these events that I have come to really enjoy. It's MY time, and My thing that I can do and keep in shape for for my own sanity. Usually I do these totally by myself...no crowds of close personal friends (Preston and Amelia)cheering me on to the finish line. But I like it that way. It's just my "clear-my-head-time", to be by myself...what can I say, everyone needs that!

Some Thriller!

I love this!...Am I the last to see this? There were like 26 million hits on this! Here is the write up about the inmates:
there was a special on these guys.... the prison warden makes his inmates participate in mandatory organized dance practice because his prison is predominantly rapists and murderers and he was having a gang violence problem he couldn't control so this was his solution and apparently it works well......... they have performances for family and the public to attend and sometimes they appear at events ..... awesome way to impose positive structure and discipline... kudos to the warden :)
And this is just their practice session. Check out all of the other dances they perform! It's amazing!

4th of July Parade

Amelia and I got to be in the neighborhood parade on Saturday morning. She peddled the whole way (bloated with pride), of course with her dear friend Katie pushing most of the weight. We had so much fun. i feel like it was a good mother-daughter day for us. Preston was away in Greensboro, NC at a gig and so we had a great opportunity to spend some real QT together. We've certainly had some ups and downs during her "T2s", but things always seem to even out. And every parent needs a good day every once in a while with their little one where there are no melt-downs, no screaming fits, lots of "OK Mommy"'s, and "Yes Mam"'s...and one fabulous parade (with cookies and lemonade to follow).
I love my little girl.

Our Annual Beach Trip!

Our Edisto trip was just perfect! I will be updating everyone on more of what we did this week later...right now, Amelia is eating breakfast.

Easter Weekend '09

We all had a grand time in Winnsboro with family and pets alike! It was good to see Sipsey. She is so much older now than she is in my memories of her just a half a year ago. That's how it goes I suppose. She's an old girl and has lived a pretty active life, even as an apartment dog. We all really enjoyed seeing Wilbur return home to my Dad after a nearly month long journey to who knows where. His return really was a prayer answered! He may have been the very first dog ever that has been added to the prayer (and praise)list at St John's Church. He is a good companion and belongs home on the farm chasing the rodents. There was also a lot of excitement with Dad's new horse, Cowboy. He is so beautiful. I got to ride him a bit on Sunday with Dad close by. Unfortunately, when Dad rode him just afterwards, Cowboy was suddenly irritated and bucked my Dad right off. It was terrible to see, but Dad was not permanently injured thankfully, although he spent a miserable time in the ER and a few days in the hospital with a substantial amount of pain. He is getting around ok, and we are all very thankful for that! According to Amelia (who saw the incident, but didn't understand really what had happened), Granddaddy fell down off of Cowboy. Got a band aid. Is all better now...Ahhh, if only the aches and pains of life could be fixed by a kiss and an Elmo band aid.

No Camera, But Still Here

Well, there have been no posts (pictures for the G-Parents)lately because I HAVE HAD NO CAMERA! What's up? Deborah lost her camera a while back, and now me. Where's this nasty little camera monster eatin up all the picture takin devices? Anywho, things are pretty steady here. The usuals, work going well for both, I've been trying acupuncture lately and really love it. Amelia is potty training now and it's all pretty "by-the-book"...lots of stickers on a sticker chart, panties vs. pull-ups (apparently there are no other options other than princess EVERYTHING), and lots of cleaning up and searching around for puddles. Amelia woke Preston up from HIS nap yesterday having undressed and undiapered herself after a poop and an attempt on the potty. I'm still finding evidence of the incident.

Just Some Small Stuff

Nothing too exciting going on with us. Just some of life's small stuff. Amelia did finally realized she can climb out of her crib. What took her so long? I don't know! She climbs everything else in sight, so it was inevitable that the crib be part of it all. We're trying to figure out whether or not to convert into a toddler bed. Such a small decision that could easily have regretful repricutions...but a broken arm or closed head injury would definitely be worse. Also, while on the subject of Amelia, she put Preston in time-out the other day...he actually didn't go SIT in time-out as instructed, but Amelia really meant business. She looks at him and firmly announces "Daddy, that's ONE!"..."That's TWO!"..."THREE! Time-Out!" Well, something about that sounded mighty familiar.

More Family Love

We had so much fun with family this past weekend. Amelia got a great amount of time in with her two cousins, Logan and Callie. Grandaddy and GranKat are so much fun too! Amelia just melts like butter in her Grandaddy's arms. We are all so lucky to have each other close by enough for good weekend visits such as these. Mimi (my Mom) came to Winnsboro on Sunday morning and had lunch with us. So we got to spend QT with everyone this time, and it was much needed. We are worn out, and ready for bed...at least Amelia and myself are. Preston is a true night owl, and always will be. I am a true 'go to bed at 10pm on the dot' girl...and always will be!

Cousinly Love

Family Update (Nothing New Really)

Things here are still pretty good. Work for me is excellent. Working in Child Life is inspiring, and the challenge of each day keeps me going. I love not knowing what to expect when I get to work. We have been really expanding our services throughout the hospital way beyond the walls of pediatrics. We take lots of trips down to Radiology (MRI/CT in particular) to help prepare the kiddos for their scans and possible IV starts. We are also really involved with the pediatric sedation team with MRI where we help kids understand what their scans will be like so they can do it without sedation. Who knew that a 5 yr old can get an MRI unsedated (most adults cannot). It's exciting to see our tiny deparment grow, and I feel so blessed to be where we are! Asheville is so good to both of us.

Preston is plugging away with his music. Vertigo Jazz Project is completely thriving, and has gotten pretty popular in Asheville. Their website will be up and running very soon. I'll definately be sending out that link as soon as it comes available. I'm so proud of him for all he has worked for. He continues to teach guitar. He especially enjoys teaching for Arts For Life where he reaches out to the oncology population. He recently has added on two new students within the community, and we're hoping for more! He's so dedicated as a teacher and musician.

Amelia is as normal a two year old as can be expected. She still loves her little friend Katie. Katie plays so well with her, but it seems that they are more like sisters sometimes. Amelia can be very bitter sweet with her, but luckily, Katie is a patient friend. Here is a cute picture of the two of them. And also some pictures of Super Bowl Sunday.