Beach Bums

We went on the Johnson family beach vacation to Ft Morgan (west of Gulf Shores, AL) from June 11 - 18. It was an absolutely perfect week!! Kate LOVED the beach!!! I told Nick that she got just about everything from him (looks like him, acts like him...) but she got my love of the beach. From the first moment she stuck her toes in the sand and water she was hooked! She squealed with delight and had no fear of the water whatsoever. Every day, multiple times a day if we weren't already headed in that direction, Kate was asking to go to the "beat" (beach).

Kate also got in some great quality time with Nonna, Poppa, her aunts, uncles and all of her cousins on my side of the family this week. The big girls, Mary Emma and Camden, were so sweet with Kate and such a big help all the time! The boys, Daniel, Owen and Connor, were as playful as ever too with her. Kate is still big buddies with Daniel and she wanted to know where he was most of the time, calling him when she couldn't find him, "Dan-ull!!!" The littler girls, Liza and Langley, were super sweet playing with Kate too. They all got in some quality pool time together at the beach (we had a baby pool under a tent down at the beach). And of course Kate had a good time playing with Harper, aka "Hapah", who is just 6 weeks younger than Kate.

Thanks again to Nonna and Poppa for such a great week!!! We are already looking forward to next year!

First steps on the beach and into the water with Daddy on the day we arrived.

In love from the first moments!

With Mary Emma and Langley

Busy "cooking" while relaxing in the baby pool

Having a tea party with Liza and Langley

Kate borrowed some of the bigger kids' "goggas" for bath time one night and insisted on wearing them for the entire bath

The fascination with the "goggas" continued through the rest of the week

With Daddy

Relaxing and riding the waves with Daddy

Walking with Nonna

Beach baby!

Playing in the sand with Nonna

The family

The whole group!!

Also here's a few video clips we took during the week

And here's a link to a slideshow that my sister, April, made of the week. Shows more of the whole family.

19 Months & Talking, Talking, Talking!

We have been busy lately listening to all Miss Kate has to say...and it's a lot!! She has continued to progress so quickly with her vocabulary and ability to communicate. I was telling someone yesterday that when she was younger and couldn't really talk, I used to wonder what was going on in her little head...now we know. It seems like a constant stream of consciousness coming out of her little mouth and most of it is understandable, at least by me anyways. When she gets up in the morning she's telling us "hey" and often "poo poo" since everything in her diaper, poo or not, is considered poo poo right now. Then she moves on to demanding "milk" and "mickey" and when prompted follows it up with a sweet "peeezzz" for please. After breakfast most mornings she moves on to playing something, or several things until lunch time. Her favorites right now are playing "night, night" in "sissy's" room. There is no furniture in the baby's new room but I have bought her bedding so Kate likes to get out her bumper and sheet, arrange it on the floor and play night, night over and over and over again. She also likes to "cook" in her kitchen and "wing" (swing) outside. Sprinkled throughout playtime she will ask for Micky or Elmo (mostly Micky) about a hundred times. For lunch she loves "burbers" (black bean burgers) and "hot dogs" (which are really corn dogs). After lunch time for a nap then more play time until dinner. Then it's time for a "bah" (bath), preferably with lots of "bubbas" (bubbles) and we get ready for bed. She knows her little routine and will want to help with her "botion" (lotion) and loves to "brush" her teeth. Kate has more demands for "milk" and "book" instead of Micky at bedtime. Then she heads off to bed after kisses to Momma and Daddy and telling us "nigh, nigh" and "wuv ooh" (love you) and often "bye, bye" as well. Anyways, that's a day in the life of Kate right now with a sampling of the many words that we hear everyday. I also recorded several clips of her talking and thought I would share that for her 19 month update. It's a little longer than most of my videos but Nick and I think it's pretty funny.