Day 31 - Stars

Last night, when we tucked Katelyn in, she had us tuck her into her sleeping bag on the floor.  She was a cowboy and she was sleeping under the stars.   Daddy thought she needed real stars, so we went on a search for them today!  We went to two different stores and finally found some at Dollar Tree!   We only put a few up tonight, because we need stronger putty, but here is a picture of Katelyn and Daddy putting them up!

Day 30 - Waiting

So there is quite a bit going on in today's picture.  Katelyn needed to finish cleaning her room today, so her bribe ended up being if she got the room clean, she could wear her party dress.  I try not to bribe her to clean the room, we started room cleaning yesterday, and around 3 p.m. today is when we reached the bribing point.   Cleaning her room is ALWAYS a battle.

Today is also the day that Daddy said he would be home!  We were expecting him anytime between 6 pm and 10 pm.  So Katelyn and I spent most of our evening hanging out in my bed, watching the celebrities arrive for the SAG Awards and waiting for Daddy.  (I was watching for Glee stars and Katelyn was watching for the dresses...in particular, she wanted to know what her favorites cost, lol!)

Every time the dogs would bark, we would jump up to see if it was Daddy.  Today's picture is Katelyn standing on my nightstand, checking to see if Daddy was home yet!

Daddy did finally get here at 8:30, and funnily enough, the dogs didn't bark at him until he came in the door!

Day 29 - Notebook

If you've talked to Katelyn in the last week, then she's probably informed you of the MOST EXCITING NEWS EVER!!!!  Which is that Nana told her when she turns 15 (yes, you read that correctly, 15) she can have a cat.   And she wants a cat SO badly.  She has assured me if she can just have a cat, she'd put the litter box in her room and clean it and feed it.  We have two dogs and no where in the house I'm comfortable sticking a litter box, so she won't be getting a cat for a long time.

Today, she was supposed to be cleaning her room.  Instead, she chose to use her time making me a book of all the things she could do if she had a cat.

In this particular picture, she and the cat are visiting a baby.  I don't even know.  And also, there is a butterfly, because "Mama, you like butterflies!"

Day 28 - Play Doh

Katelyn adores Play Doh.   The other day, we were watching this new show and the commercial at the end was for a Play Doh cake set.   She has talked about it nonstop, so I knew that when my mom mentioned she and Katelyn were going to buy some new Play Doh while I was at work today, that Katelyn would try to convince Nana she needed a cake set.  Obviously, Katelyn is very convincing.

Day 27 - Whatever

This is Katelyn on the phone telling her Daddy that she wasn't good today.  She'll be good tomorrow!

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Daddy finished his driving hours and got his own truck today!!  He'll be home for a few days sometime this weekend!  Katelyn is exploding with excitement, lol!

Day 26 - Pretend

Welcome to Katelyn's Hotel.  This is the "bed" in her hotel room.  She's been checking in imaginary guests all day.  She brought me breakfast and a towel for the pool earlier, she's an excellent concierge.   Now, she's the guest, which requires pajamas.  Because "Mama, you CAN'T play hotel without pajamas."   It's 3 pm.

Day 25 - Snow Princess

This morning, I had to go to work, so my mom came over to watch Katelyn.  When I took my picture of the day, I realized my mom had already taken one:

Katelyn says she's sad in this picture because she was locked in a tower.    I'm assuming she's Rapunzel, because she has been playing that game ever since we saw Tangled a few weeks ago.  The little lizard she's holding is Pasqual, just like in the movie!

My mom met me at Kmart, so I brought Katelyn home.  She has been begging me to let her go outside all week and since it was "warmer" today, I let her.  (Warmer means it was 33 degrees outside instead of 2, lol!)

This is Katelyn "reverse shoveling".   She picks up all the snow from the yard and piles it back onto the porch.

And a bonus Katelyn anecdote for the day:  

I have promised Katelyn that she can have a Nintendo DS when she learns how to read.   I'm hoping it motivates her to use her computer time playing the Starfall.com games instead of fixing Barbie's hair.   This weekend though, she spent a whole bunch of time playing with Bethany's DS, so she's been spending some time working on her letter sounds.  Today she stood beside me and told me the letter sounds for a,b,d,m,n,t, and v.   I said "Great job, kiddo!"  and she said, "Ok, so when can I get my DS?"

Day 24 - Beggers

I wanted the picture of the day to be Katelyn with her Uncle Matt, since he got to babysit her today!  But I forgot my camera, so instead you get a glimpse of my silly dogs.  They are apparently starving, even though they've just been fed dinner.  I wonder if they realize they are begging for cotton candy flavored yogurt right now? (gross!!)

They spend every one of Katelyn's meals right here, because she only likes 1/3 of the food I fix (and it's never the same 1/3 from one day to the next) and she slips them whatever she doesn't what to eat when she thinks I'm not watching, lol!

Day 23 - Favorite Things

Yesterday, I mentioned Katelyn got a few new things at Goodwill.  

I didn't realize how excited she was going to be for these overalls!   We let her try them on yesterday, and she sobbed when I made her take them off.  She demanded they be clean for her to wear today though, so here they are.    She spent the whole day exploring all the pockets and poking them full of blocks and toys.  Her most exciting discovery was that her mp3 player and headphones fit in the little pocket in the front!   She is always thrilled for any excuse to wear tights, as well, so I feel like we'll be seeing a lot of these overalls in the weeks to come!

Our other cool find at the Goodwill was a Pound Puppy.  The orange one was mine when I was a kid and the gray one is her new one.   I haven't seen them in FOREVER so I can't believe we found one for her!  She played with them all morning.

Day 22 - WV!

The second half of our WV trip brought us to visit Mama and Papa!  Katelyn was antsy and over excited today, so she did not want to get her picture taken.    For some reason, every time we take a long car ride with Ciocia Ricky, Katelyn gets turned into a kitty.  Mama had a princess crown for her to play with, so she spent most of our short visit as Princess Kitty.   She even went to lunch today as a cat.  Yeah, I'm that parent. LOL!  You only get to be 4 once!

If you are eating in Huntington, WV, I highly recommend the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafeteria on Pullman Square....they had some seriously good food!!  We also made a quick detour to the Goodwill and Katelyn was so excited, we found her 3 skirts, a jean overall jumper, AND a real pound puppy to be a friend for the one that I gave her that was mine as a kid.  Two of those three items will most likely appear in tomorrow's picture of the day.   We got home from our trip around 8 p.m.  It was a very good weekend!

(Sneak peek of the jean jumper, lol!)

Day 21 - POOL!!!!!

Katelyn LOVES to swim.  She had so much fun this evening.  It has definitely lived up to her expectations.  We got to our hotel at 2:30, she swam immediately, and now it is 7:30 and we are back.   This pool is 3 feet deep so she can touch the bottom, so she's lost the float and is just getting out and jumping back in over and over.  She's determined to close the pool down, lol!! It's going to take some serious bribery to get her out of here!

Day 20 - Waitin' on Lizzie

Katelyn named my mom's car Lizzie, because it looks like a lizard.   Today our picture is Katelyn watching Lizzie get her oil changed.   There's a blizzard here and we were the only people there.  The oil change guys ADORED Katelyn, they threw snowballs at the window for her and she left with a pocket full of candy.  If Lizzie had been Katelyn's car, we probably would have gotten a free oil change, lol!!

Lizzie needed an oil change for our trip tomorrow.  She's so excited for the HOTEL with a POOL and MAMA and PAPA!!  (All of those caps words need to be read in a shrieking voice while jumping up and down, because that is how she's said them all week!)  I hope it lives up to her expectations!

Day 19 - Lunch

Katelyn made me lunch today!!  We had mini pizzas.  Yum!

(You may notice the same few outfits popping up over and over in these pictures.  I've been trying to teach her to be more independent and she loves to pick out her own clothes.  However, she loves about 3 things more than anything: this Tinkerbell T-shirt, her rainbow leggings, and her pirate shirt.  So I promise, she has a TON of clothes, she just won't wear them, lol!!)

Day 18 - Flowers!

Today, we had a busy day!  Our to do list included a haircut for Katelyn, a trip to the store, and lunch somewhere with a playland, because Katelyn is going stir crazy stuck in the house for so long!  Last night, my mom masking taped a vase and had Katelyn color on it, and she was desperate for flowers to stick in it.  She wanted real ones, but I knew she'd have them broken in a minute, so I promised her we'd stop at Dollar Tree and buy some fake ones if she was good.   She spent the whole day being good and panicking, because what if we got to the store and they were out of flowers? or she didn't like them? or what if I forgot to take her?  She was concerned about the flowers ALL day.  The look on her face when we walked into to Dollar Tree and saw their wall of flowers was priceless!!  She had so much fun choosing her flowers!

She chose the length of her hair cut too...it's pretty short, but adorable!

Day 17 - Let them eat cake!

My mom saw a tv show the other day where they made a cake she HAD to have.   Said cake contains 2 sticks of butter, 3 eggs, 4 CUPS of powdered sugar, and a block of cream cheese.   It's like a heart attack in a cake pan.  Katelyn LOVES helping Nana cook!

If you're going to eat this cake, a glass of milk is required.  Yum!

Day 15 - Zoo Part 2

Today, Katelyn got to go to the zoo again, this time with Nana, Uncle Mark, and Ciocia Ricky!  It's never a good idea to send her out with the three people who spoil her most in the world:

As you can see from this photo, she has somehow conned my mom into letting her wear Nana's sweatshirt instead of her coat, and my sister out of ANOTHER stuffed animal.  Sigh.  It's nice to be loved, lol!!

I have no words.

Day 15 - Make Up

Make up will probably come up a few more times this year.  Katelyn got some play make up for Christmas and she is obsessed now!  She LOVES to put on make up, although she seems to take most of her make up tips from Lady Gaga, so she isn't allowed to wear it out of the house.

This morning started out with her begging to play on the computer.  I have a special browser that only allows her to visit age-appropriate websites, so she can choose what she wants to play, and her favorite lately is the Barbie website.  It has games that let her put make up on Barbie and even dye, curl, and cut her hair!

But she eventually got bored pretending and wanted to play with her make up for real.  She's gotten so big that she can do her nail polish all by herself now!

It's really generic nail polish, even if it dries completely, it still washes off when she washes her hands, so it's perfect for her to practice with!  She sat at the table and did her make up for two hours, lol!

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Day 14 - ZZZZZ

So Katelyn is usually a great sleeper.  She always sleeps in her own room, unless she's pretty sick.  But for some reason, at least once a week since Daddy's been away, I wake up to this:

Yep, this is MY bed.  And she's sprawled across ALL of my pillows.  She says she's having a bad dream, but I think she just wants to cuddle with Mommy, lol!

Day 13 - Winter at the Zoo

Last year, Twitter helped me make the coolest discovery.  Every winter at the Cincinnati Zoo in January and February, they have Penguin Days.  The zoo has half price admission and some of the more difficult animals to see in summer have been moved indoors, so you get a much better view (the elephants are like 5 feet away from you in their house!!).  But the coolest part of Penguin Days happens every day at 2:30.

The zoo walks the penguins to their outdoor exhibit every morning, and in the afternoon they walk them back and feed them.  You actually get to walk with the penguins back to their indoor exhibit.  It is such a cool experience!  Last year, we went three times, and we'll probably hit that again this year!

The penguins on their way back into the building.

Katelyn "waddling" like a penguin.

Day 12 - YeeHaw

Today's To Do list included a visit to the grocery store.  We haven't really been since before Christmas, so our list was HUGE.  Katelyn begged and begged to go to Meijer, since they have carts with TV's in them.  I have to pass about 4 other grocery stores to get to this one, but it's cheaper in the long run, because she isn't out begging to add things to the cart.

My favorite moment of today though, was when we got to the end of the shopping trip and she asked to ride the pony.  Since it only costs a penny, it's almost impossible to say no.  As soon as the ride started, she started quoting Toy Story.

"Mama, this town ain't big enough for the both of us."

and 

"There's a snake in my boot!"

It was way too cute!

Day 11 - Snow Day

Today, we spent the day "snowed in."  Katelyn actually surprised me, it was almost 2 o'clock before she started asking to go outside.  She was disappointed that it snowed, because it meant we weren't going to the store to get batteries for her VSmile.  Silly kid.  She was also sad, because we don't have a hill for sledding this year.

 

Day 10 - GamerGurl

Uncle Mark and Ciocia Ricky  made Katelyn a super happy girl today, when they surprised her with a VSmile!  It's a little video game system and Katelyn has played with it all afternoon!  She's in love, lol.   Her Nana and I set it up in her room, since her Clickstart is in the living room.  Today is a two picture day, because the first one is her playing at the beginning, and the second one is her a few hours in.

She turned from a 4 year old little girl to a 14 year old boy in one afternoon, lol.  All she needs is a can of Mt. Dew and a bag of Cheetos!  (And I can't explain the sneakers with tights...she has her own fashion sense!)

Day 9 - Clean House

So today Katelyn helped me clean up.  She still thinks loading the dishwasher is fun, so I don't discourage that, lol.   We also decided to trade computer desks.  She had a lot of fun putting all the junk back in the old desk. 

I hate that the picture is so blurry.  My flash was being testy today.

Day 8 - Party On

So, we have a lot of party supplies.  Like, I may be the only person with a junk drawer full of nothing but birthday candles, paper plates, and party hats.  This drawer is Katelyn's favorite drawer in the whole house.  It also has blowers and straws and she is forever conning me into letting her have "parties".  Today, she decided she was Hailee, and it was going to be Hailee's birthday.  (Nevermind, that the real Hailee's birthday is in August.)  She spent the whole day setting up an elaborate party with play food, and she even wore her hat for dinner.  Silly girl.  The hat lasted until bedtime, when she had a temper tantrum and smashed it.  Poor hat.

Here is our drama queen showing off her hat at dinner!

Day 7 - Visit from Daddy

Daddy is doing 8 weeks of training to become an OTR truck driver.  He left around the 21st of  December and he won't be back until sometime in February, we think.   He had a delivery that drove him right through our area though, so we met him for dinner and he let Katelyn blow the horn on the truck.  She was SO excited to see him.  She asks me at least 5 times a day when Daddy will be home.

This is a terrible picture of both Katelyn and Daddy.  Fingers crossed for a new camera soon!

Day 6 - Talkin'

Daddy calls us every night at bedtime.  Katelyn has to use the speaker phone, so I can help keep the conversation going.   Otherwise, she'll just mumble a bunch of stuff and Daddy can't hear her. Tonight, he called from Texas, where it's 70 degrees.  Must be nice, it's snowing here!

Katelyn did lots of talking today though.  When she woke up to the snow, she was so excited.  She said "Mama! It's snowing, just like I dreamed about!"

A few days ago, someone was setting off fireworks on our way home.  Katelyn really wants to set some off, but I told her we couldn't, because it's illegal here.  We'd go to jail.  She proceeded to spend 20 minutes talking my ear off about what would happen to her if I was in jail.  Most notably, I would need to leave her my phone, so she could call people. She'd call Aunt Ann to give her a bath, Nana and Uncle Matt to babysit, and Ricky to bring her groceries.  Sadly, she would not call me in jail, lol!  

Day 5 - BFF's

Katelyn thought Zoe needed to be a princess today.

Day 4 - Tubes & Tunnels

Katelyn had a blast at the "tubes and tunnels" today.  I'm incredibly sad that she is big enough to reach the tallest level with no help now!  Also, she was crazy good at this game that involves scooping up flying bees with a net  and then dropping them into a little pot.  I'm not sure what she was more excited about though, the tubes and tunnels or the fact that I let her wear her pirate t-shirt out of the house!

Day 3 - Snooki

So her bedroom was clean, but in the time between clean and getting ready for today's photo, it was already messy again.  Blah.  

At the moment, Katelyn is really excited to be taking photos for Daddy.  She actually smiled cute and cooperated for a photo for me this afternoon, but then I logged onto Facebook and decided another picture would have to be my picture for today!

Katelyn spent the afternoon with James' aunt and her cousin, Hailee.  This photo is courtesy of Hailee, she fixed Katelyn's hair to look like Snooki, from the Jersey Shore! Too cute!!

Day 2 - Resolution: Organization

Sigh.  This picture.  So, this room was spotless on December 24th.  And even pretty clean on the 25th.  Last week, I asked her to clean it, and I'm not entirely positive she didn't get sick on purpose, just to avoid doing it!  So now, it is a full blown mess.  I asked her to clean it after breakfast this morning.   You can see she's still wearing her pajamas, because I thought withholding her bath would bribe her into cleaning it.  (And, yes, she did sleep in those tennis shoes last night.)  So this picture is her progress at 12 pm.  (And no, she hasn't cleaned a thing.)  I'll update tomorrow...her new bribe is a trip to the tubes and tunnels, so let's hope she makes it there!

Day 1 - Peace Out, 2010!

I asked her if I could take her picture and this was the pose she chose.  Who knows why!