The Crafts

Check out this video of Kate and me trying to catch a fly. Unsuccessful but entertaining! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhxG_AhZWrY

Kate and I had a busy morning. It began with making apple tarts using our new Pampered Chef tool. Afterwards we went outside in our boots to make the most of a rainy day. It wasn't actually raining when we were out but it had rained a lot shortly before our adventure. Below is a slideshow of Kate fully enjoying puddle jumping, rock throwing and riding her big wheel through puddles. And don't think Kate was the only one having fun. I put my grubby shoes on too and hopped after her. I'm sure we were a laugh-out-loud sight for anyone passing by. A little girl and a mego-preggo girl splashing dirty water at each other. Thank goodness for Spray n' Wash.

I had my 35 week appointment and nothing exciting to report. Baby is growing so that is good but apparently this kid isn't ready to come out yet...despite my pleadings. Actually, I feel really good most of the time so I can't complain. And this weather has been a God-send for any and all pregnant women. I scheduled my last four doctor appointments. I'm at the point where I will begin going weekly. Doctor said today that this baby will be born most likely before my due date. This rationale stems simply from the fact it is my second pregnancy...so I'm not holding out too much hope. Below is a super cute picture of Kate saying hello to baby. She often asks baby to kick. And I think the baby knows when Kate is around. Almost anytime Kate is on my lap, baby will begin kicking and that thrills Kate!! I find it rather thrilling myself, too.

Matt and I played in an 18 hole, six person best shot golf tournament on Saturday in La Porte. We won the tournament last year and I am proud to say we are now two time defending champs. My goal was to contribute two shots. That might not sound like much of a contribution but you have to understand we shot 15 under par with three big strong men on the team...big strong men who golf...a lot. And of course their significant others who are also great golfers. So when I actually contributed three shots, including a tee shot, I was, and still am, thrilled. My aching back on the other hand is less than impressed with my willingness to play 18 holes of golf. In fact, two days later my back is still recovering. Which is rather surprising really, considering I play at least once a week. I thought it would hold up better than it did. Perhaps my back is aching due to more than golf. I have also been a little over ambitious with projects lately such as rearranging furniture and organizing toys, ba...

If it is socially acceptable to eat a large cup/waffle cone/bowl of ice cream, is socially acceptable to eat three fudgecicles??

Below are some photos from our recent trip to Lawton to visit family. Enjoy! Cousin Matthew, Uncle Greg, Cousin Tyson and Cousin Brendan relaxing poolside at Greg and Deb's house A family picture outside a SmithCo truck. SmithCo is my Aunt Deb's and Uncle Greg's sidedump truck company in LeMars. Where there is a pool, there is Kate. Jack, Marilyn, Lea Rae, my Grandma Smith and my Grandpa Smith Kate learning to drive a big rig.

After another long, but fun, weekend we are finally home. We drove through at least 15 counties today on our trip home. We awoke in Lawton at my grandparents' house, stopped in Okoboji for a work related court hearing and returned to La Porte City around 5:30ish. Our trip out west was great. I love catching up with family and hearing stories and we pretty much got to do that. We also spent a lot of time in the bathroom with Kate. Saturday morning she announced that her booty hurt which is code for needing to go to the bathroom but refusing. We had a lot planned, despite the painful booty, including a family reunion, a trip to LeMars, a visit with friends in Sioux City and dinner at my aunt and uncles. I would say 75% of that time was spent sitting on the bathroom floor convincing Kate that if she would just poo then she would feel so much better. It was a terribly, vicious cycle. She would cry that she needed to use the potty chair, sit down, yell that she was 'done...

I thought I'd update the blog before heading out to visit my grandparents and in between unsuccessful attempts to put Kate down for nap. Should make for a super fun car ride to Lawton...4 hours away. (Note sarcasm.) Anyway, I have a few fun pics to share from recent events at the Craft house. Matt came up with a great idea to surprise Kate with an enormous living room tent. Right after we put her down for a nap one weekend we got to work. Shortly after we were done building the tent we heard little footsteps sneaking down the stairs. She took one look at that tent and we knew she would never go to sleep. It was a long day...but we had fun playing in 'Tent-asaurus.' Matt and Kate hiding in Tent -asaurus. Mom and Kate in Tent-asaurus. Kate woke up happy from a nap the other day. I love happy Kate. Her hair was so funny I had to take a picture. Luckily she was willing to model it for me. I was upstairs one Saturday when Matt approached me with a drill and told me to go ...

Below are a few pics from our family trip to the Brewers v. Dodgers game in Milwaukee last weekend. Thanks to my sister, Lindsay, for sharing. This is Kate modeling Aunt Lindsay's sunglasses with Grandma Smith. Doesn't Grandma look so proud of her granddaughter? I bet she didn't realize Kate was fishing for gold at the time. Grandma Smith and Kate posing with the 'Sausage Guys.' The Sausage Guys race around the bases after the sixth inning to provide a little fan friendly entertainment. Kate thought this was by far the most interesting part of the entire game...that and the chocolate malt, frozen lemonade and popcorn she inhaled. Posing behind the third base dugout. Brewers press box. This is where Matt's friend, Josh, works. Pretty cool, eh?!! On second base is the controversial Manny Ramirez. He played a great game and we all had a blast!

What a whirlwind weekend. I absentmindedly forgot my camera so I have zero pics to share. My sister thankfully brought her camera to the Brewers v Dodgers baseball game so I will hopefully receive those sometime in the near future. My long weekend started off Friday morning. Kate and I hopped in the car with Matt for a quick court hearing in Cedar Rapids and then we were on our way to Clinton, Wisconsin with a pit stop in Shullsburg, WI for lunch where we ate our weight in cheese. After a long and, thankfully, uneventful car ride we arrived at Josh and Angie's house. Matt and Josh spent a good chunk of their time converting old Iowa State games from VHS to DVD while Angie and I played with the kiddos outside. We, as a group, made a couple trips to the park and visited an enormous, free wading pool in Janesville, WI. It was not the kind of park wading pool from my childhood. This thing was about the size of a traditional pool and never got much deeper than my shins. It had ...

Kate played with Grandma Craft while Matt and I painted the kitchen Wednesday night. Below are a couple of pics from their cupcake baking adventure. Isn't that a super cute apron?

Just a little heads up that we will be getting away for a bit. Friday morning we leave for Beloit, Wisconsin to visit some friends. They have two little boys, Reagan and Sawyer. Kate says, "Reagan pulls hair and Sawyer has been cheeks." But she is thinking of a little girl named Reagan who has a tendency to yank hair...not boy Reagan. And Sawyer...well he does have big cheeks, and they are super adorable. On Sunday we will leave Beloit for Milwaukee where we are meeting up with my mom and dad, my sister Lindsay, my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Lindsay for the Dodgers v. Brewers game. All in the name of celebrating Ryan and my dad's birthdays. After the game Matt and Kate are riding home with my family while I drive solo to Chicago to visit Jen, my friend who had a baby about two months ago. I'm staying in Chicago until Tuesday where upon my departure I will stop for at least an hour or two at one of my favorite stores. (Cue angelic music...) IKEA!! After ...

Okay so my life is not all work...not even close. But I haven't had much down time lately thanks to Kate and her dwindling interest in napping. I don't think she has napped since Friday of last week. Actually she did take a super short sleep for Matt on Sunday but that was it. I was already worried about life with a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn, but now I am really freaking out. You see, I was so, so, so, so unbelievably crabby when Kate was in her newborn phase. I slept maybe two or three hours a night and got in the occasional day time nap. But with an always awake 2 1/2 year old I will never get a nap...even if I'm up all night with the baby. What is life going to be like with two kids and zero opportunities to sleep...ever. Millions of women have gone through this same situation and survived, so I too will survive, right? I just need to give myself a pep talk and an aquarium size mug of caffeinated coffee. Here's to you Folgers. You may be my best friend for a few m...

That subject heading is not a euphemism. A few weeks back Kate managed to poo on the new carpet without me noticing. I unfortunately found it after she had stepped in it and gleefully spread it around the house. And a very similar incident happened again today. The potty training has been really pretty great but something about successfully completing the #2 business has been a real struggle. I've heard it is common among toddlers, but is it also common to proudly get the stuff in between your toes and run around the house without telling your mom?! Gross. Sadly all of this happened on a day she refused to take a nap. Translation: we were/are both running on empty and at each other's throats. On a happy note, Kate didn't have any potty accidents today. Hooray for small victories. I think I will celebrate with some pilates and an early bed time.

Ok...not really. I thought I'd play off of the presidential election slogans to get young people to vote. Either way, if you haven't already done so please vote on whether you think Baby Craft #2 is a boy or girl. See the poll to the right.

Kate has/was/is going through a phase where she awakes in the morning and hops into bed with me. It is usually about the time Matt gets up for the day so she snuggles in and falls back to sleep. I tend to not get much sleep however since Kate changes positions every 45 seconds and for some reason occasionally laughs in her sleep. Matt was able to sneak upstairs one morning after Kate had planted herself in his sleeping spot and he took a picture. I was awake but didn't want to get up. I wasn't about to wake sleeping beauty.

Below is a slide show of bowling pictures from our trip to Clear Lake. I had too many photos to load individually so thought I'd give this a try. We played two games and it was a heated competition of men v. women. Thanks to Kate (and her bowling ramp) the women won the first game. Kate had high score (no lie!) including a strike. I believe the men won the second game but that is simply because Kate had to leave early into the second game. She was so tired from her first victory that she asked to go back to the hotel and sleep. That was almost a bigger surprise than Kate's high score.

Oh, vacation. I hate the feeling in the pit of my stomach when vacation comes to an end...but it is inevitable. Thankfully we have fond memories to hold onto in the form of pictures. Check them out... Oddly the weather hit a rather low temp while we were vacationing near the water in late June/end of July. Kate and I broke down and bought sweatshirts. Despite any cool breezes we still found ways to have fun. Above is a picture of the three of us in the courtyard of our hotel. This is where we did most our eating, talking and reading. La Porte City, Clear Lake or Timbuktu...Kate will find a park. We were able to get a good amount of pool swimming done our first couple of days. Day three we were planning to take Kate to the beach and to the splash pad. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate for either. So Kate settled for some serious play time in the sand instead. Making sand castles... Doing what the Craft family does best...swim! I have a lot more pictures to share so expect ...