Future Olympian

I know that it has been over a month since the Olympics, but Katie was so into the Games that I have to tell you about it. She LOVED the diving and the gymnastics. Each night that diving would be on, Katie would practice her "dives" as well. Check her out...


Katie was also excited to see the gymnasts do their thing. She often tried to imitate them here at home. She loves to twirl herself around the kitchen, "pinnin" like the girls on TV. She tries to do the somersault thing, but can't figure out how to bring her bottom up over her head. It is hilarious!



She was so excited when we got to go to an Open House for the gymnastics center that our friend Mackenzie goes to. Katie played so hard that day. Just a week later, we got to go back for Mackenzie's birthday party. Katie was a natural...











As all birthday parties do, we ended with a yummy cake celebration. Clearly, Katie takes after her mother - the girl can eat some cake :)

We're Back!

After multiple forgettings of my password (and user name for that matter), the HVs of VA are back! School has started and I am trying my best to keep this blog updated - starting tonight anyway. My goal is to update once a week, so here we go...

Katie is getting so big. It dawns on me daily that she is no longer my baby, but my sweet little girl. She is so much fun - she loves to be outside, loves rocking and reading, and loves to go shopping and fill her bag with the toy food items Grammy got her.

She has turned into the most verbal little thing. She talks and repeats things constantly. She can say her name "Katie Hor-bath", loves to say - not eat "ham-ba-gas", and really likes her "elf-a-lint" pajamas. When she is not at Aura's house, she always asks for her friends and looks forward to seeing them everyday. She can name most of them - Caroline, Raegan, Tucker, Xander, Eva, Garnett, Lindsay - and wakes up each day asking for Aura, Lake (her daughter) and Les (Aura's husband). She can even repeat sentences like "I wan go out-sy Dad-dy" and "I wan Chee-ohs."

Recently, our girl has learned to finger paint. Jordan and Matthew came over one afternoon to play with Katie so we broke out the paints and paper. Katie wasn't sure what to do with the messy paint, but after some prodding from "Jor-nan" and "Ma-kal", she dove right in.



Of course, there was more paint on Katie than there was on her paper. She was so funny! We had to put her right in the bath after we painted because she was such a mess.

Katie's First Ponytail

After months and months of waiting, Katie's mullet is finally long enough to put into a ponytail. Now if only the hair on the top of her head will grow...

Message for Grammy

As Katie was eating her snack last week, she wanted to say "Hi" to her Grammy. We can't wait to see you next week!

Fun Times

Katie loves to do things with her Daddy, especially play outside. Stephan bought her a lawnmower so she could mow the yard just like him. Interestingly though, Daddy's lawnmower does not usually blow bubbles when it's in use.




This morning while we were enjoying our coffee, Katie tried on some "shoes". It took her a minute to discover the first "shoe" she picked up wasn't exactly one for her foot.





So she threw that aside, and found her Daddy's sandals. Once she had them on, as any girl who loves shoes knows, she had to walk around to see if they fit properly.



Katie and Daddy got to spend a lot of time together this week, as I was in Boston to attend a conference on how to teach writing in my classroom. As soon as I got off the plane, I fell in love with the city. We left the 104 degree weather behind in Richmond, and walked off the plane to a beautiful 73 degree day in Boston. 73 degrees!! In July!! I called Stephan that night and told him to pack our stuff - I want to move to Boston.

While I was there, I discovered a small kiosk in the mall that we went to for dinner one night. An artist created animals out of the letters in children's name and put those animals on prints, note cards, t-shirts, and bibs. I couldn't resist buying something for Katie. Check out Katie's name below. Can you find each letter in her name?



The K is the dog's mouth, the A is its head, the T is its tail, the I is its collar, and the E is its body and legs. Adorable, huh?

Reading is Fundamental

Our sweet girl LOVES to read. Loves it. We read in the morning after breakfast, we read many times throughout the day, we read after her bath and before she goes to bed, and then Katie reads some more to her Teddy ("Tay-ee") and Turtle ("Tur-lo") once she is in bed. While we were at the beach, Katie would go into our room and climb onto the chair so she could read by herself. Oftentimes this did not last for long. Wade climbed onto the chair with Katie and read with her. He wanted a hug and a kiss - and went for it!

Surfside Beach 2008

In June we took our first family vacation to Surfside Beach, SC with the Edwards Family. We had such a good time. Katie and Wade are the best of friends and played together the entire week we were there. Daredevil Wade taught Katie how to jump on the bed and how to jump OFF the furniture.


Katie and Wade loved to go out and feed the turtles and ducks together. Those poor animals had their bellies full of bread, apple jacks, and cheerios the entire time we were there.











Katie loved playing on the beach. She was afraid of the water for only a minute, and spent the rest of the time trying to get away from Mom and Dad so she could swim in the ocean by herself.