Quick Takes Volume 44

~1~

Katie has been on a mini-whirlwind of firsts this week.  She figured out how to take bites out of food, learned how to hold a sippy cup, has become far more bold about just standing on her own for a couple of seconds [without my permission],  and has discovered that she REALLY likes ravioli.  Oh, and thanks to the neighbor and her daddy, she also discovered that she likes chocolate cake and icing.  So much for waiting for her first birthday to give cake a try.

~2~

My parents took Madeline and Ellie for the night on Wednesday.  It's so odd to just have a baby in the house.  We went out to eat and did the obligatory trip to Target while the kids were away.

~3~

I'm having a birthday party at my house in less than a week and I have NOTHING prepared.  This is why I don't like to do parties early.  If I do them late or on time I'm prepared and things go smoothly.  Two weeks early means I'm going to be running around like a mad woman early next week.  It doesn't help that this weekend we have a soccer tournament for Madeline.  

~4~

Soccer has officially claimed all of our Saturday's for the next three months.  Actually, it sort of claimed all of this month since Bryan keeps taking the Madeline and sometimes Ellie to impromptu practices on Saturday mornings.  I'm looking forward to having a few free Saturdays sometime in the late fall.

~5~

Ever the planner, I'm looking ahead to Christmas.  I'm trying to plan out activities for helping the girls get the most out of Advent, and I'm working on Christmas shopping.  This year I'm planning on slimming Christmas down to three gifts per person [and the dog, too].  Some of the gifts may be a grouping of a few items, but I'm going to try very hard not to go overboard.  I came up with a list of items from specific categories for the stockings last year and I'm going to stick with it since it worked out quite nicely last Christmas. 

~6~

School starts in less than two weeks!  I can't believe summer vacation is nearly over.  I think the girls are ready to go back to school.  They seem to be getting sick of each other's company.   At soccer practice last night we discovered that one of Ellie's new teammates goes to the same school.  Perhaps they'll be in the same class.  I'm praying that one of the kids she knows will be in her class to help ease the transition to the new school.

~7~

Katie is such a goofball in the Target shopping carts.  It's the only cart where she won't sit still.  Bryan has taken to snapping pictures of her hanging on in the cart for dear life and posting them on Facebook.  It's become an unintended series that makes friends and family laugh.

Katie is the first child I've had who wouldn't sit still in the cart.  Look at this.  How does she twist herself around in this?  Tonight she managed to turn around and stand up in the two seconds it took for me to pull my debit card out of my wallet to pay.  Arrgh!  I'm afraid I'm going to have my hands full in the coming months.